IfiWiiWWifiwaND^JOMORV;^ 




^'^* 



H:^'^^n 



.^ 







:! ' '"'■■ 




11 ,„.,:,ii iiiiiiii liiiiii fi iiliiii li ilMiii 


inis 




Class 4^ JL. 94 - 

Book . A g> H 8 

GopightN" 



ATLANTA 

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 



BY 
JOHN R. HORNADY 

AUTHOR OF 

THE BOOK OF BIRMINGHAM 

THE EDITORIALS OF J. R.H. 

ETC., ETC. 



T? 



AMERICAN CITIES 
BOOK COMPANY 

1922 



.AsHs 



Copyright 1922 by 
JOHN R. HORNADY 



m -.; 1222 



INDEX 
PRINTING 
COMPANY 
ATLANTA 



CU602721 



FOREWORD 

Should this work upon the city of my 
childhood and youth fail to be as com- 
plete as one might desire, let me plead 
in extenuation that scores of those to 
whom I wrote requesting information 
upon organizations, institutions and move- 
ments, failed to respond. I trust, how- 
ever, that enough information and enough 
interest attaches to the work to make it 
worthy of the attention of the reader and 
worthy of the great city it seeks to mirror. 

To the many who extended their cordial 
cooperation in the accumulation of the 
material herein contained, I am sincerely 
grateful. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I Laying the Foundations 1 

II From Hamlet to City 16 

III Old Scars Are Healed 31 

IV Through War's Furnace 50 

V With Faces to the Future 68 

VI Incidents of Long Ago 87 

VII Events Move Swiftly 102 

VIII Tragic Close of Daring Deed 118 

IX Pioneers Recall Old Days 135 

X Growth in Values' 152 

XI The Stage — Now and Then 168 

XII Places of Renown 187 

XIII Elements of Greatness 200 

XIV Spiritual and Civic FoRCEh. 215 

XV Schools of Proud Tradition 234 

XVI A Financial Stronghold 255 

XVII Industry at Its Best 271 

XVIII Adding Wealth to Atlanta 291 

XIX Growth of Utilities 319 

XX Revival of Ancient Order 336 

XXI Millions for Improvements 347 

XXII AYoMEN Achieve Much 367 

XXIII A Few Personalities 383 

XXIV Education of the Negro 406 

Chronology of Atlanta 417 



ILLUSTRATIONS 
Typical Office Building Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

Federal Reserve Bank 16 

Government Building 32 

City Hall 32 

A Study in Contrasts 64 

Fulton County Courthouse 80 

Piedmont Driving Club 96 

Habersham Hall 96 

Entrance Lowry National Bank 100 

Pershing Point 112 

AVhere First House Was Built 112 

Capital City Club 128 

''Bobby" Burns' Home 128 

Buildings Financed Through Atlanta 144 

Stone Mountain 160 

GriANT Turbines 176 

Emory Unr^rsity 192 

Oglethorpe University 208 

Buildings Financed Through Atlanta 224 

Agnes Scott College 240 

Hall, Washington Seminary 240 

Dam, Ga. Ry. & Power Co 256 

Power Plant, Ga. Ry. & Power Co 256 

Plant, Dowman-Dozier Company 272 

Plant of Atlantic Steel Co 288 

Plant of Kleiber Motor Truck Co 288 

An Atlanta Made Bridge 304 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Plant of Atlanta Stove Works 320 

Imperial Palace, K. K. K 236 

Spelman Seminary 352 

Morehouse College 368 

Clark University 368 

The Candler Warehouse 400 

Plant of Hanson Motor Co 414 

Plant of Block Candy Co 417 



m 

•■..'i( . Lrlfi, 











THE HURT BUILDING, TYPICAL OF ATLANTA' 
MANY MAGNIFICENT SKYSCRAPERS 



ATLANTA 
Yesterday, Today ajid Tomorrow 

By John R. Hornady 



CHAPTER I. 

Laying the Foundations 

IT seems more than passing strange that At- 
lanta, where the Sherman war machine at- 
tained the maximum in destructive force, 
should have become the most dynamic power 
in the rehabilitation of the South; that a city 
which was fed to the flames in times of internecine 
conflict, should have become as a shining light, 
leading an exhausted and impoverished people 
into peaceful conquests out of which came wealth 
and happiness undreamed. 

Sherman, when he had driven back the ragged 
and exhausted forces which fought for the de- 
fense of Atlanta, found here something that was 
impervious to shot and shell and flaming torch — 
a spiritual something that lived and loved and 
hoped and wrought when ashes filled the nostrils 
and scorched the feet and no green thing seemed 
to hold out hope of a brighter and happier day. 
Strange, too, that the very thing which caused 
the war clouds to burst upon Atlanta with the 



2 ATLANTA 

utmost fury, should have proved the mainspring 
of her rehabilitation. Yet it is so. This flaming 
spirit of faith, this inextinguishable hope, this 
unalterable purpose to achieve, made Atlanta a 
center from which radiated the impulses that 
kept ill-equipped and exhausted forces fighting 
on and on as long as one ray of hope remained. 
And because it was such a center, it was marked 
for the maximum of punishment. That which 
furnished so much of hope and of material assist- 
ance must be destroyed utterly. So Atlanta was 
reduced to ashes. But a vain thing it was, for 
that which it was sought to destroy was inde- 
structible, then as now. The Atlanta Spirit sur- 
vived, and the influence that had wrought so much 
in promoting the cause of the Confederacy, be- 
came a mighty factor in the amazing restoration 
■^ich was to follow. 

/The world likes to see the ideals and purposes 
of a people epitomized in an individual, and At- 
lanta has been fortunate in that it possessed a son 
through whom the guiding impulses of its heart 
— and the heart of the South, for that matter — 
were so visualized that the whole nation under- 
stood. Henry Grady vocalized and visualized 
these impulses with a clarity and a beauty that 
thrilled hearts that had been unfeeling and 
caused the scales to drop from the eyes of those 
who had been unseeing. Close enough to the Old 
South to feel all the sweetness and tenderness of 
its softer moments, and to know all the sternness 
and gallantry that characterized its conflicts, and 
close enough to the New South to sense every 
impulse by which it was stirred; having the gift 



LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 3 

of prophecy and the tongue of golden speech, 
Grady revealed Atlanta and the South as he re- 
vealed himself — devoid of bitterness because of 
the things that had gone before, and filled with 
a great and just pride because of the things that 
were and which were yet to be. 

A stalwart figure was Grady, and every fibre 
of his being was vibrant with the purpose to 
translate into actuality his own dreams of a South 
vastly enriched through the development of its 
marvelous resources. And his dreams and his 
purposes became the dreams and purposes of a 
mighty people, with results that fairly stagger 
the imagination. 

In this determined application to the task at 
hand; in this tireless work of improving every 
advantage, Atlanta took a leading part, and its 
own development into one of the greatest among 
Southern cities was the just reward of spirited 
endeavor/' 

Yet, while Atlanta is of the South and proud 
of it, there is a difference, indefinable but real. 
Some, sensing this difference, and feeling the im- 
pulse of its virile commercial life, have endeav- 
ored to identify it and to tag it. Hence the ex- 
pression one hears now and then that Atlanta is 
''the New York of the South." But this does 
not describe it, though one might construe the 
statement as a delicate compliment to the Empire 
State metropolis. True, there is some resem- 
blance between the business section of Atlanta 
and down-town New York, the height of sky- 
scrapers being emphasized by the narrowness of 
the streets, and the congestion being emphasized 



4 ATLANTA 

by the same cause, but cities are not made of 
streets and sky-scrapers alone, and in its spiritual 
aspects, there is a wide difference between the 
great Northern city and its some-times name-sake 
in the South. 

The average New Yorker is well satisfied with 
his city — and vastly ignorant of what it contains. 
The average Atlantan is merely gratified with his 
city and will not be satisfied until it becomes one 
of the world's greatest centers of population. 
Moreover, he knows his city and is never quite 
so happy as Avhen telling someone of its great- 
ness, past, present and potential. His love for 
his city is deep and fervent and his pride in it 
is not a thing to be whispered. It is something 
to be shouted from the housetops, and it has been 
shouted so loudly and so frequently that its echoes 
have penetrated to the most distant and the most 
obscure points in the South, with the vibrations 
thereof extending even into the North and East 
and West. 

The impulse which prompts a citizen of At- 
lanta to let the world know what a great city is 
his, has been named, not by the people of this 
community, but by observers on the outside, and 
it is known as the "Atlanta Spirit," a term the 
traveler through the South will encounter at 
almost every turn. Let him attend a meeting of 
some civic organization in any Southern 'city, 
where an effort is being made to accomplish some- 
thing constructive, and the chances are about 
ten to one that before the meeting is over, some 
one will arise to suggest that *'If we had the 
Atlanta spirit we could put this over in a jiffy." 



LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 5 

Thus is tribute paid to Atlanta throughout the 
length and breadth of Dixie, and thus Atlantans 
have created an asset that the self-satisfied Goth- 
amite well might envy. 

It is this spirit, inextinguishable and all-per- 
vading, that gives Atlanta the atmosphere that 
stamps it as different. Nor can one inhale this 
atmosphere without feeling some of its contagion. 
The "why" of it provokes inquiry, and one can- 
not inquire about the things that make Atlanta 
great without receiving a strong impression of 
their permanence. Atlanta has a number of as- 
sets that are slow to change. Its topography is 
delightful, its climate most desirable, and its geo- 
graphical position such that it will ever occupy 
a coimnanding position as a commercial and finan- 
cial entity. 

Atlanta measures its length and breadth along 
a ridge that forms the dividing line between the 
Atlantic ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. This 
ridge is gently undulating, lending itself most 
admirably to the arts of the landscape architect 
and the builder of boulevards, and furnishing 
alluring settings for homes, many of which are 
truly palatial. 

It is to this ridge, which at this point is elevated 
more than a thousand feet above the sea, Atlan- 
ta attributes its remarkable freedom from dis- 
ease, since it not only furnishes excellent drain- 
age but lifts the city into a bracing atmosphere. 
In this connection, it is worthy of note that At- 
lanta furnished a shining exception in the old days 
when yellow fever so often carried terror into 
many parts of the South. Atlanta was ever a 



6 ATLANTA 

haven for refugees who were fleeing from the 
cities farther South, and here perfect immunity 
was found. The reason for this immunity was 
not then known, as the fact that the mosquito 
was responsible for the spread of this disease, 
had not been discovered, but the fact that the 
gates of this city were ever open to the refugee 
and that the disease could find no foothold here, 
gave it an enviable prestige. 

Only those who witnessed the scenes of terror 
that attended a violent outbreak of yellow fever 
in those old days can appreciate what it meant 
to have a haven of refuge open somewhere in 
the South. The moment the disease made its 
appearance people in the affected sections would 
begin to flock North. Every train would be 
crowded to the doors, chiefly with women and 
children, and all along the hot and dusty way 
these trains would be greeted by guards; guards 
who sternly forbade any one to leave the cars and 
who, in many instances, required that the win- 
dows and doors of all cars be kept tightly closed 
while the train passed through the community. 
Armed guards, these were, and grimly determined 
to prevent the landing of a single pilgrim from 
the land of plague. 

Then the train reached Atlanta, and what a 
change! No guards, no rules against alighting 
and making oneself at home, no atmosphere of 
antagonism or of fear. Here the refugee ceased 
to be an Ishmael and became again a freeman, 
privileged to go and come at will and to live the 
normal life that was being lived by other folks 
in this community. 



LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 7 

The high ridge upon which Atlanta rides to 
ever increasing greatness, is not only responsible 
for making it an unusually healthy community, 
but in a way it is responsible for the very exist- 
ence of the city. It was the topography of the 
land in this quarter which led to its being se- 
lected as the terminus of the first steel highway 
through which it was sought to connect the water- 
ways to the West with those of the Atlantic. John 
C. Calhoun, in^n address delivered in Memphis 
in 1845, said that one of the great needs of the 
South was fo link the Mississippi valley and the 
Southern Atlantic coast by rail, and in this con- 
nection he pointed out that the formation from 
the course of the Tennessee, Cumberland and 
Alabama rivers was such that all the railroads 
which had been projected ''must necessarily unite 
at a point in DeKalb County, in the State of Geor- 
gia, called Atlanta, not far from the village of 
Decatur.'^ 

The ^curacy of Calhoun's deductions was 
demonstrated by subsequent events, and because 
of the formative work of nature, the steel high- \ 
ways, following the course of least resistance, I 
worked their way to ''the point called Atlanta, 
not far from the village of Decatur, ' ' and because 
of the coming of the roads there developed here 
one of the great cities of the South; a city so 
overshadowing when compared to other centers 
of population in the vicinity, that were some 
modern Calhoun to describe Decatur's location 
today he would refer to it as "a place near At- 
lanta." 



8 ATLANTA 

The South was filled with embryonic schemes 
for railroad building at the time of Calhoun *s 
address, and had been for some years prior 
thereto, and out of some of these plans grew the 
first name by which the Georgia metropolis of 
the future was known, that of "Terminus." 

Even before the Indians had been removed 
from this section, the State of Georgia had 
awakened to the importance of providing better 
transportation facilities than were afforded by 
the wagon trails of the period, and as early as 
1833 charters had been granted to several roads 
and a state-owned road was receiving favorable 
consideration. In 1836 the Legislature passed an 
act authorized the building of the State road, 
which was to run from the Tennessee line at a 
point near the Tennessee Kiver to the Southwest- 
ern bank of the Chattahoochee ''at a point most 
eligible for running branch lines to Athens, Mad- 
ison, Milledgeville, Forsyth and Columbus." 

Preliminary work upon this ambitious project 
began at once, and by the following year, Stephen 
H. Long, the engineer in chief, had established 
the terminus of the road at a point which today 
is in the very heart of Atlanta. 

At that time a solitary cabin occupied the site 
of the future city, a structure which had been 
erected of logs by Hardy Ivy. His reactions 
with reference to the invasion of the solitude by 
snorting steel monsters were not recorded, but 
if the attitude ascribed by historians to the peo- 
ple of Decatur may be considered as a criterion, 
then he was not enthusiastic over the project, for 
the people of that community are said to have 



LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 9 

been so well satisfied with the music of the birds 
that they were averse to having this melodious 
chorus interrupted by the shrieking of locomo- 
tives. This, by the way, was not an unusual atti- 
tude among the people of rural communities at 
that time. Life consisted of a comfortable rou- 
tine, and there was a charm about these isolated 
towns that made a powerful appeal to the finer 
feelings. The streets, as a rule, were bordered 
by giant oaks, whose wide-flung branches met and 
intertwined above the driveway. Old-fashioned 
gardens, sweet with the odor of tube roses, jes- 
samine and honeysuckle, and bright with vari- 
gated colors, flanked the way, and peace brooded 
above them like a benediction. Conservatives 
were content, and cared not for the clarion call 
of the steel highway. 

Another factor which entered into the opposi- 
tion which existed to the building of railroads, 
was found in the fact that these highways threat- 
ened the life of established industries. Their 
coming meant the passing of profitable stage- 
coach lines, of wagon trains, which transported 
freight from city to hamlet, and the passing of 
these enterprises meant serious injury to sundry 
little industries. The blacksmith, the wheel- 
wright and the wagon-builder felt their enter- 
enterprises menaced, and these and kindred 
spirits exercised no little influence upon public 
thought. This explains why so many small com- 
munities in the South are "oif the railroad," to 
the great satisfaction of sundry dusky hack-driv- 
ers, but to the great annoyance of the traveling 
public. But all this changed long ago, and for 



10 ATLANTA 

years projected railroads have been able to col- 
lect handsome bonuses for stretching their lines 
through ambitious communities. 

With the coming of the railroads to ''Term- 
inus" came shops and people to work in them, 
and stores and dwellings began to appear, cre- 
ating a demand for building materials, and with 
this demand came brick works, sash and door 
factories and kindred enterprises — and saloons. 
The future city was under way. 

The logic which brought the first railroad to 
what is now Atlanta, held good in the develop- 
ment of the community, which in the course of 
time became known as "The Gate City of the 
South," an appelation due to its strategic posi- 
tion. The time came when, fanwise, railroads 
stretched to all parts of the South, with Atlanta 
as a starting point, and goods flowing from the 
North and East into that wide and fertile terri- 
tory, passed through Atlanta. 

Pioneers foresaw the possibilities that the 
future held out for the establishment here of a 
great distributing center, and from the first the 
community attracted the most ambitious and far- 
seeing type of citizens, an element whose efforts 
in community building could not be thwarted by 
the less constructive activities of another element, 
quick to put in appearance, which could be identi- 
fied by its shiny elbows — due to frequent contact 
with the bar and the gambling table. 

The struggle between the constructive and loose 
elements began almost with the beginning of the 
town, and while the initial clash might be termed 
something of a dog-fall, the final outcome re- 



LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 11 

mained in doubt for only a limited period. In 
an election held in 1850, when the issue between 
the two contending forces was clear-cut and decis- 
ive, the better element of the community scored 
a decisive victory, and from then on the power of 
the gambling and drinking class began to wane. 

In this notable contest, the better element org- 
anized as the ''Moral Party," and put a ticket in 
the field headed by Jonathan Norcross. The op- 
position met the challenge boldly, and came forth 
to battle with an organization which they frankly 
named the "Rowdy Party." This organization 
threw its support to L. C. Simpson, a lawyer, who 
had come out in opposition to Norcross. 

A fervid and spectacular campaign culminated 
in the triumph of the "Moral Party" ticket, and 
Mayor Norcross entered upon the duties of his 
office prepared to uphold the standards of the ele- 
ment which elected him, but it was no easy task. 
The opposition, though beaten, was not ready to 
curl up and die, and it continued to make things 
as disagreeable as possible. The lawless couldn't 
believe that the old, happy-go-lucky, do-as-you- 
please, days were at an end, and they decided at 
once to test the intent as well as the mettle of the 
new administration. As a consequence. Mayor 
Norcross found official life just "one thing after 
another." His duties involved much more than 
delivering welcome addresses to visiting conven- 
tions and making after-dinner speeches. He was 
chief of police, judge of the police court, street 
superintendent and general utility man for the 
municipality. 



12 ATLANTA 

The new mayor had been in office only a short 
time when a truculent and overgrown member of 
the minority party decided to show the town that 
the victory of the straight-laced element meant 
nothing in his gay career. With this end in view, 
he went on a rampage which finally brought him 
up in the mayor's court, where he waited in con- 
temptuous silence while the prosecution presented 
its case. He declined to dignify the proceedings 
by offering a defense, but when the evidence was 
in and the Mayor rendered a verdict of *' guilty'' 
he came to life with a jerk. 

Springing to his feet, the prisoner drew what 
appeared to be a cross between a dagger and a 
sword, and brandishing this wicked weapon he 
defied any and every one in the courtroom to lay 
hands upon him. 

The little room in which the trial was held was 
jammed with people, the news having gotten 
abroad that a test of the new order was to be 
staged, and when the prisoner produced this fear- 
ful looking weapon and roared his challenge to 
the minions of the law, there was a spontaneous 
rush for the exit. But there were several officers 
present to whom the sight of weapons was no new 
thing, and who could not be cowed by any such 
demonstration. Allen E. Johnson, sheriff of the 
county, leaped forward with upraised walking 
stick, and dealt the prisoner a blow upon the hand 
that sent the weapon flying across the room. Wil- 
liam McConnell, town marshal, Ben N. Willford, 
deputy marshal, and C. H. Strong, a spectator, 
immediately fell upon the desparado and a hand- 
to-hand fight followed. The man finally was over- 



LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 13 

powered, but upon being carried to the street 
managed to make his escape, darkness having 
fallen while the trial was in progress. 

The spirit of desperation and of contempt for 
law shown by this individual but reflected the 
attitude of the lower element of the commun- 
ity, and his exploit proved the spark which set 
aflame the ill-subdued spirit of lawlessness, and 
brought about a deeply significant struggle which 
was to determine whether or not Atlanta was to 
be run by the honest. God-fearing people, or by 
the rowdies who knew not law and feared not God. 

Within forty-eight hours after the incident in 
the court-room, the seething unrest among the 
lawless found expression in a definite movement 
to rid the community of the man who stood for 
and represented the law. The rough element ob- 
tained a small cannon at Decatur, and bringing it 
into the village of Atlanta, they mounted it in 
front of the general store operated by Mayor Nor- 
cross. Loading it with dirt, behind which there 
was a heavy charge of powder, they fired the 
weapon, the blast echoing up and down the nar- 
row, star-lit streets, and creating great alarm. 

This noisy demonstration was followed with a 
specific notice to Mayor Norcross that if he did 
not resign and leave the town at once, his store 
would be blown to atoms, and the menacing atti- 
tude of the mob left no room for doubt as to its 
sincerity. Thus the issue was pressed home. 

Mayor Norcross quietly withdrew from the 
presence of the mob, but it was not to run. On the 
other hand, he resolved to break the mob spirit or 
die in the attempt. To this end, he secretly got in 



14 ATLANTA 

touch with law-abiding citizens and before mid- 
night a volunteer police force of approximately 
one hundred men had been formed and was ready 
for battle. 

Meanwhile the mob had been growing in num- 
bers, being assembled at a house on Decatur 
Street. About midnight this house was charged 
by a squad of citizen police, led by A. W. Mitch- 
ell, who in later years came to play a prominent 
part in the life of the community. 

So thoroughly had the forces of law and order 
been organized by Mayor Norcross that the mob 
seemed to realize the futility of combat, and no 
sooner had their rendevous been surrounded than 
there was a wild scramble to escape. However, 
about twenty members were caught and these were 
conveyed in triumph to the little "calaboose" 
which constituted the city's bastile at that time. 
As it was not large enough to hold all the prison- 
ers, it was decided to lock up the leaders and let 
the followers go. This was done, and on the fol- 
lowing morning when the prisoners were carried 
into court and given the extreme penalty of the 
law, they took their medicine and the question of 
what element should rule in Atlanta was settled. 
The victory was not complete, as there were spor- 
adic outbreaks from time to time, and for a num- 
ber of years the roughs kept the officers busy, but 
at no time thereafter did the idea gain ground 
that Atlanta could be governed and controlled by 
the element that stood in defiance of the law. 

At that time two sections of the town were noted 
for their lawless propensities. One of these was 
known as ''Slabtown," a name derived from the 



LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 15 

peculiar type of architecture which prevailed. The 
houses, chiefly shacks of the cheapest kind, were 
made from ''slabs" garnered at a nearby saw- 
mill. The other tough quarter was known as 
"Murrell's Row," being named after a notorious 
individual who was much given to games of 
chance. Such games flourished in these quarters 
and hold-up's and physical combats were not un- 
usual. 

"Snake Nation," was the name given a suburb 
which became a stench in the nostrils of decent 
people, and a determined effort was made to break 
it up. In the performance of this worthy enter- 
prise, it is not altogether certain that the crusad- 
ers were not themselves guilty of certain infrac- 
tions of the law, for they went to this notorious 
quarter on a certain memorable occasion and not 
only removed its denizens by force but demolished 
nearly all the houses. War also was w^aged against 
the lawlessness in Slabtown and Murrell's Quar- 
ters, and graduall}^ peace and order settled over 
the community. Thus were laid the foundations of 
the security that is the heritage of the people of 
todav. 



CHAPTER II. 

From Hamlet to City. 

WHEN Hardy Ivy built his log cabin in 
the splendid solitude that existed here 
in 1833, the Indians still had their grip 
upon the land and were reluctant to 
surrender it. Not gifted with the intellectual re- 
finements that characterized the white man, they 
were slow to see the logic of the suggestion that 
they pack their simple belongings and depart to 
some remote spot beyond the Father of Waters 
where they might remain in peaceful possession 
of their land until, ah; well, let's say, until the 
white man caught up with them again! 

The group which existed in this section at that 
time and which had no claim upon the land other 
than that they had occupied it for a few centuries^ 
consisted largely of Cherokees. They were a 
peaceful people for the most part, and really the 
only charge that can be justly laid at their door is 
that they were a bit stubborn, and, as indicated 
above, slow to understand. They offered no armed 
resistance when their land was taken from them, 
but put the whites to a lot of inconvenience by re- 
fusing to leave until, by force of arms, they were 
persuaded so to do. They had to be rounded up, 
which was a lot of trouble to begin with, and then 
an escort had to accompany them all the way upon 
that long and perilous journey; a journey upon 
which a number of the escorts died of privation 



FROM HAMLET TO CITY 17 

and hardship. Some four thousand of the Indians 
died also. 

As individuals are born in hours of agony, so 
also are empires, but, 0, the tragedy of it ! 

The eviction of the Indians from Georgia began 
on May 24, 1838, five years after the first house 
had been built upon the ground where Atlanta 
now stands. This cabin remained the only one in 
the vicinity until about the time the Indians were 
scheduled to go. Then in 1839, with much talk of 
railroads coming in, the solitude began to be brok- 
en by the sound of the axe and the saw. John 
Thrasher, a merchant, came in and erected a 
house, and was followed by several others. Then 
Thrasher laid the first stone in w^hat was to be- 
come a mighty commercial structure by opening a 
general merchandise store under the name of 
Johnson and Thrasher. But, if anyone should 
have asked Mr. Thrasher the commonplace ques- 
tion, "How's business?" he would not have found 
the gentleman very enthusiastic, for ti'ade lang- 
uished to such an extent that the owners finally 
decided to move elsewhere. But in this, ihej erred, 
not reading aright the signs of the times, for while 
progress moved with leaden tread, it moved with 
certainty, and the time came when Thrasher saw 
the error of his way and returned to the new com- 
munity to again become identified with its com- 
mercial life. In this he set an example that has 
been followed by many since his day, so much so 
that it has become a proverb that "Once an 
Atlantan, always an Atlantan." 

The little hamlet, still known as Terminus, 
languished until in the early forties, by which 



18 ATLANTA 

time connection with Marietta was established. 
But, alas, when this railroad appeared it was like 
an automobile stranded on a lonely highway with 
an empty gas tank. There was no engine with 
which to operate! The road then was finished 
only between Atlanta and Marietta, but every one 
was eager to see it in operation. 

After some casting about, it was found that a 
locomotive could be obtained at Madison, but Mad- 
ison was some sixty miles away and there was no 
railroad connection. In this emergency, those 
hardy pioneers of 1842 did a bold and spectacular 
thing. They caused to be made the heaviest wagon 
that any individual in this section had seen until 
that time, and, when this huge craft was complet- 
ed, they loaded the locomotive upon it and started 
across country for Terminus. Sixteen mules furn- 
ished the motive power, and one may imagine the 
strain and stress of that tortuous journey across 
sixty miles of country, with mere trails for roads. 
Yet the bold exploit proved successful, and the 
locomotive was placed safely upon the rails in 
Terminus in time to make a Christmas Eve trip to 
Marietta, December 24, 1842. This initial train 
consisted of the engine and a lone box car, but a 
large crowd gathered in honor of the occasion, the 
people coming from miles around, and the intro- 
duction of railroad transportation was fittingly 
celebrated. Enthusiasm was at a high pitch be- 
cause the road from Augusta was being pushed 
forward and it, too, would soon become an actu- 
ality. 

From this time forward events moved with a 
surer, more sustained tread. Farmers began to 



FROM HAMLET TO CITY 19 

bring their products to Terminus, and sundry 
manufacturing enterprises were launched, while 
real estate men^ alert then as now, began to see 
possibilities in the situation. Subdivisions were 
opened and an auction of town lots was held. As 
these lots were located in the very heart of what 
was to be the metropolis of the future, they be- 
came the basis of more than one great fortune, and 
today many of them are adorned with graceful of- 
fice buildings that tower high into the blue. 

Meanwhile the town had been incorporated as 
' ' Marthasville, " the name being adopted in com- 
pliment to a daughter of Wilson Lumpkin, 
former Governor, who had been zealous in the pro- 
motion of railroad enterprises throughout the 
State. It is a matter of interest, in this connection, 
that Marthasville was launched under the commis- 
sion plan of government. This plan generally is 
referred to as "modern," but it was put in opera- 
tion in this isolated hamlet at the beginning of 
1844. There were five commissioners, as is the 
rule of the average commission governed city of 
today and they exercised legislative, administra- 
tive and judicial functions, just as they do at this 
time. 

This early experiment in commission govern- 
ment was not a success, however, and at the ex- 
piration of four years, when it was decided to in- 
corporate as a city instead of a town, the alder- 
manic system was substituted for the earlier plan, 
evidently in response to a very general demand. 
Meanwhile the name "Marthasville" had become 
too prosaic to suit the progressive citzenship, and 
it had been changed to Atlanta. This change was 



20 ATLANTA 

made officially by the legislature on December 26, 
1845, but the town had been called Atlanta, by 
common consent, some time before this date. 

Some controversy has existed concerning the 
origin of this name, and since there appears to 
have been no authentic data upon the subject even 
as early as 1859, it would be presumptious for one 
thus far removed from the date of Christening to 
undertake to speak with authority. However, the 
theory advanced in 1859 by Gr. B. Haywood, a 
prominent lawyer of the young city, is of interest. 
In the course of a descriptive article he said : 

' ' Atlanta is a name which is understood to have 
been proposed by J. Edgar Thompson, at that 
time chief engineer of the Georgia Railroad. The 
significance of the name, the reason for its adop- 
tion, and the various theories on the subject have 
now become a theme of inquiry and investigation 
not without interest. The writer has heard it 
claimed as due in honor to a mythological goddess, 
Atlanta, said to have been remarkable for fleet- 
ness, strength and endurance. It was certainly a 
fast town then, and may have been supposed en- 
titled to the honor of recognition by the goddess, 
by reason of its early character and its wonderful 
achievements. The name was for a short time 
written as Atalanta, which seems to favor the 
claim of the goddess. And still another theory is 
set up by some who claim for it an origin more 
worthy of its present importance as a railroad 
entrepot and commercial emporium, taken in con- 
nection with its future prospects as a great rail- 
road center and manufacturing city. The great 
State work, connecting the waters of the West 



FROM HAMLET TO CITY 21 

with the Atlantic, commencing at Chattanooga, on 
the Tennessee River, and terminating at this 
point, had nearly been completed the name ' West- 
ern & Atlantic Railroad,' had been given to it by 
the Legislature of Georgia, and it was not inaptly 
considered the great connecting artery through 
which must pass the incalculable mass of produce, 
manufacturers and commerce from the great val- 
ley of the West and the Atlantic Coast, and the im- 
ports from abroad passing thence to the far West. 

'^ Atlanta had been permanently fixed as the 
southeastern terminus of that great State work, 
and gave a local idea to its eastern terminus, and 
that idea, represented and qualified by the adjec- 
tive Atlantic, was incomplete of itself, but early 
pointed to something more definite, and the mind 
is put upon the inquiry for the thing signified. The 
connection by rail from Charleston by way of Au- 
gusta, and from Savannah by way of Macon, had 
both been completed to this point. These roads 
had been gradually ascending the hills from the 
coast, in search of a 'northwest passage;' they 
had searched the hills upon which the city stands 
and here they met the Western & Atlantic Road, 
just emerging from the wilds of the Northwest, 
seeking by a sinuous and difficult ascent from the 
Western valley for a highway to the Atlantic. 
They met together on our streets, they embraced 
each other upon the headlands of the Atlantic. 

''These headlands, when embodied in the noun 
Atlanta, to our mind, meets the demand and rep- 
resents the ideal of the thing sought after, and the 
mind rests upon it as the thing signified by the 
several indices pointing to Atlanta as the proper 



22 ATLANTA 

name for such a place. This we now state to the 
public as the true derivation sustained by the facts 
in the case." 

After reading this charming conception, from 
the pen of one who obviously loved the city and 
who had a true appreciation of the greatness 
which the future held for it, one is inclined to let 
the matter rest there. Besides, where a name 
comes from is not particularly important, the 
thing that counts is what it stands for now, and 
surely the name Atlanta has its full significance 
today and is inseprable from the idea of spirited 
accomplishment. 

The early enterprise of Atlanta was shown in 
the manner in which the young City went after de- 
sirable enterprises. The location of the annual 
fair of the Southern Agricultural Association as a 
permanent thing was accomplished in 1850, a gift 
of $1,000 in cash and the donation of ten acres of 
land being the prime inducements. That so young 
a city caught so rich a prize almost in the begin- 
ning, is significant of the fact that community 
zeal, which is so pronounced today, is no new 
thing. 

The somnolent sections of the State must have 
looked on aghast at some of the manuvers of those 
enterprising Atlantans of the fifties, for, after 
getting the State Fair, they straightway began to 
lay plans for marching on Milledgeville and carry- 
ing the State Capital from that ancient town to 
the new and hustling city ! What's more, they did 
it. 

The measure of Atlanta's ambition and enter- 
prise at the time it sought to become the legisla- 



FROM HAMLET TO CITY 23 

tive and judicial center of the commonwealth at 
so early a period, may be inferred from certain 
other proceedings adopted by the City Council 
on the same night that the removal resolution was 
passed, February 3, 1854. At this meeting the 
night police force was '' increased to six men," 
and in order that there should be no loafing on 
the job, the ordinance required the chief of police 
to '*cry in a loud voice" from the council hall 
every hour in the night after nine o'clock, 'Ho 
which cry each of his assistants is to respond." 
It was also at this meeting that plans were inaug- 
urated for establishing a gas lighting system. 

This new system was installed by the following 
year, and Atlanta began to catch a metropolitan 
stride. Street lamps, using oil, had been introduc- 
ed two years before, but the ordinance under 
which they appeared carried a specific provision 
that the citizens enjoying the benefits of these 
lights must furnish the fuel, an arrangement 
which suggests that the City Fathers of the period 
were familiar with the Bible and were particul- 
arly impressed by the injunction relating to keep- 
ing the lamps trimmed and burning, but they in- 
terpreted it as applying to the individual rather 
than to the corporate body. 

The subject of fire protection also began to re- 
ceive serious consideration in the early fifties, and 
an ordinance was passed providing for the dig- 
ging of wells at AVhitehall and Mitchell Streets; 
Norcross and Marietta Streets and Whitehall and 
Hunter Streets. 

At the same time an ordinance was passed re- 
quiring each store to have a ladder and two buck- 



24 ATLANTA 

ets for use in case of fire. In 1854 the first fire 
station was built, being located on Market Street 
and being erected at a cost of $800. 

About this time Atlanta began to grow at a rate 
which justified the faith of its most optimistic cit- 
izens, and events moved with ever quickening 
tread. Ambition grew, and in January, 1857, the 
young City came forward with an offer to take 
$100,000 worth of the stock of the Georgia Air 
Line Railroad, a new project which was being fos- 
tered and which the citizens of Atlanta were very 
anxious to see carried through. It is significant 
of the enterprise of the period and of the funda- 
mental soundness of conditions in the new city, 
that it was touched but slightly by the panic of 
this year ; a fact strongly emphasized by the con- 
fidence w^ith which it was agreed to finance so 
large a part of a new railroad. The bonded in- 
debtedness at this time was $47,000, including $5,- 
000 issued to the Georgia Air Line Railroad as 
first payment upon the subscription of the City. 
Of the remainder there was $4,000 for fair 
grounds, $16,000 for a new city hall, $20,000 for 
gas plant, and $3,000 in the Chattahoochee Bridge. 
The erection of this bridge had been fostered to 
the extent indicated, and the city had also pledged 
subscriptions to stock in two new board highways 
that were being brought thereto. 

With the growth of Atlanta, which had attained 
a population in excess of 11,000 by 1859, slave 
traders began to come here to buy and sell, and 
for the first time, so far as it is known, the cry 
went up to protect home institutions. Local deal- 
ers brought to the attention of the governing au- 



FROM HAMLET TO CITY 25 

thoiities the activities of the outsiders who were 
dealing in slaves, and the upshot of the matter 
was the passage of an ordinance putting a tax on 
all persons, not residents of Atlanta, who bought 
or sold slaves in the City. 

The development of the industrial life of the 
community had been almost as rapid as its com- 
mercial development, and coincident therewith 
slave labor began to cut a figure in the economic 
life of the community. White mechanics found it 
difficult to compete with slave labor, and consid- 
erable unrest developed. Urgent representations 
were made to the city council by members of var- 
ious crafts, but no inmiediate solution of the prob- 
lem seemed at hand, and the issue remained unset- 
tled. Meanwhile, however, events in the nation at 
large were moving swiftly, and the time was not 
distant when this, and all other questions of local 
interest would be completely overshadowed. For 
the war clouds were gathering, dark, sinister and 
menacing, and all the vexing problems growing 
out of human chatties soon were to be settled else- 
where than in council chambers or civil courts. 

Lest the reader infer that the ubiquitous news- 
paper man was slow about making his appearance 
in the young City of Atlanta, it might be well here 
to record the fact that the "Democrat" appeared 
in 1845. Then came the "Luminary," which for a 
little while shed its effulgence upon the commun- 
ity. It is significant and suggestive that this pa- 
per was started by a Baptist minister, Rev. Jo- 
seph Baker, a man of obvious faith, who no doubt 
felt the need of some spiritualizing influence in 
the communitv to counteract the element which 



26 ATI ANT A 

toyed to a often with taat which biteth like a ser- 
pent ana stingeth liko an adder, and which flirted 
over-much with the goddess of chance. 

With the appearance of these newspapers, it 
was inevitable that others should blossom forth, 
so presently "The Enterprise" was launched by 
Koyal and Yarbrough, and "The Southern Mis- 
cellany, ' ' edited by C. R. Hanleiter, put in appear- 
ance. But not even Atlanta could sustain so much 
journalistic skill, and all of these ventures fell 
by the wayside. 

But not for long was Atlanta a burying ground 
for newspapers. "The Intelligencer," published 
by A. A. Gaulding & Co., came along and grew 
into an influential journal, and with the approach 
of the war "The Southern Confederacy" made 
its appearance under the direction of James P. 
Hamilton. It, too, became a virile factor in the 
life of the community. "The Daily Examiner" 
appeared, which, with the "Intelligencer," gave 
the City two dailies. These were virile journals, 
as most Southern newspapers were at that time, 
and there was no hesitency about criticising when 
criticism seemed warranted. And how those old- 
time editors could put the "bite" in what they 
wrote! No putty-pointed barbs for them, but 
sharp and polished steel. 

For instance we find the editor of the "Daily 
Intelligencer" disgruntled over the condition of 
the streets as they existed in February, 1852. Did 
he voice a feeble protest to the City officials, urg- 
ing that steps be taken to remedy a deplorable 
situation ? He did not, for he knew a more effect- 
ive method of getting beneath the skin of those 



FROM HAMLET TO CITY 27 

in authority, and, taking his pen in hand, he 
addressed the following to the world at large, 
heading the editorial ''A Word to Strangers:" 

' ' If you arrive in town on any of the numerous 
railroads that terminate here, it will probably be 
just before dark. After refreshing yourself with 
a hearty meal at some one of our well conducted 
hotels, you will feel a desire to take a stroll about 
town, at least through AVhitehall Street. Starting 
from the vicinity of the railroads you can proceed 
fearlessly till you come to the first cross street, 
called Alabama Street. Don't think of walking 
out of your direction to walk up that street unless 
the moon shines particularly bright, or unless you 
hang to the coattail of some friendly guide; as 
without such aid you would probably find yourself 
in about two minutes at the bottom of a pit, fifteen 
feet in diameter by eighteen feet deep, which oc- 
cupies the center of the road, and thus occasion 
considerable trouble to those who happen to be 
near, in procuring ropes to drag you out, and in 
such case, you might besides, be inclined to form 
an unfavorable impression in regard to our city 
regulations, as did a gentleman last week, who was 
hauled out of the pit pretty badly injured. 

' ' Passing this point, you can continue in White- 
hall Street, but by all means take the right hand 
side, as on the left side are two deep trenches dug 
out of cellars. At present they are admirably 
adapted to catch unwary passengers. In one night 
last week, during a rain storm, they caught no less 
than five — two ladies and three gentlemen, return- 
ing from a concert. One of these was a stranger 
in the City, and while spreading himself before a 



28 ATLANTA 

blazing fire in the Holland House, to dry the red 
clay with which his garments were beautifully 
covered, gave way so much to his feelings that he 
was observed very much upset at the mention of 
our venerable city council. 

"Proceeding on the right hand side of the 
street you will have a very comfortable walk until 
you come to Cook's corner, where the pavemient 
ceases. Here you had better turn square round 
and walk back, for directly in advance is another 
pit, fifteen by eighteen feet, ready to take you 
in. In some parts of the town we believe these 
holes have been covered over. The one in front of 
Loyd & Ferryman 's store, where a man fell in and 
broke his neck some weeks since, we are credibly 
informed was promptly covered after the event." 

This editorial throws light not only upon the 
condition of the streets at that time, but it serves 
also to illumine the journalistic methods of the 
period, for, mark the fact, there is a post-script, 
and it reads as follows: 

' ' P. S. — Since the above was put in type we are 
gratified and delighted that each of the pits men- 
tioned above, have been temporarily covered with 
plank so as to avoid recurrence of further acci- 
dents." 

Why did the editor print the editorial after the 
conditions complained of had been corrected? 
Was it because there was no type with which to 
fill the yaAvning gap it would leave or because the 
editor having produced the satire, deemed it too 
good to be lost? 

It seems to have been difficult, then as now, to 
keep highways in proper condition, for Ave find 



FROM HAMLET TO CITY 29 

the "Daily Examiner" discussing the same sub- 
ject, three years after the "Intelligencer" had 
found the evils corrected before he could get his 
criticisms into print. 

The "Examiner," in October, 1855, called at- 
tention to the fact that a verdict had been re- 
turned against the City of Chicago in the sum 
of $3,100 in favor of some one who had been in- 
jured on the sidewalks of that city, and observed : 

"Here is a warning to all municipal authorities, 
but particularly should it be to those of Atlanta. 
A walk down Whitehall Street is not the thing it 
should be, and we should not be surprised to hear 
some day of a verdict like that at Chicago, render- 
ed by a jury of our own citizens in favor of some 
poor devil, over a broken leg, or of a widow with 
nine children, whose husband's neck was broken 
by a tumble into one of the numerous dark cellars 
that ornament the business part of the town. ' ' 

In reading these ancient editorials, one wonders 
what they did with so many ' ' dark cellars, ' ' since 
the Eighteenth Amendment had not been adopted, 
and why the widow, or, shall we say, tentative 
widow? should have nine children; questions the 
answer to which is lost in the mist and mystery 
ofiong-gone yesterdays. 

V*with a virile press, mth constantly increasing 
educational facilities, with a full quota of church- 
es, with a multiplicity of manufacturing establish- 
ments, and with an ever expanding commerce, At- 
lanta continued to go forward at a most gratify- 
ing stride, and the approach of the great conflict 
between the North and the South, found it one of 
the most prominent cities of the South. The un- 



30 ATLANTA 

certainty which attaches to all new cities had dis- 
appeared. Permanency had stamped its mark 
upon the conamunity and those who had invested 
their money here, faced the future with an assur- 
ance that became contagious. Growth was rapid, 
and the character of citizenship long since had 
ceased to be of the transitory, adventurious type. 

It was thus that the war found Atlanta a pros- 
perous, progressive and growing community, 
adorned with many handsome homes and preten- 
tious places of business. The conflict left it de- 
serted and desolate beyond all power of descrip- 
tion. AVhat shot and shell failed to destroy the 
flames consumed. Save for a few buildings, 
which for various reasons were left standing here 
and there as gaunt reminders of what had been, 
the City was reduced to a heap of smoldering 
ruins, a scene of vast and unutterable melancholy., 

Sherman had proved to the full his theory e$ 
what war is. 



CHAPTER III. 

Old Scabs Are Hfyled. 

ON the Southeast corner of Whitehall and 
Alabama Streets at one of the busiest 
intersections in Atlanta, there stands one 
of the ancient iron lamp posts that 
adorned the City in the days of its youth — a short 
and slender relic of the antebellum period. 
Crowded by a huge ''white way" standard and 
overshadowed by a great office building, it is 
passed day after day by hurrying multitudes with 
scarcely a glance. Yet it is worth more than a 
cursory examination, for it constitutes what is, in 
the business section, the only visible reminder of 
the inferno through which Atlanta passed when 
day after day, for over a month, the shells of the 
Union Army rained upon the City. 

At the base of this ancient post one observes 
that there is a hole, round and clear-cut, almost as 
large as the post itself, and from a small bronze 
tablet fastened to its top, he learns that this hole 
was made by a shell, for the inscription says in 
part: 

y" "The damage to the base of this 
lamp post was caused by a shell dur- 
ing the War Between the States, 
Battle of Atlanta, July 22nd, 1864." 

To read a tablet like this in an age like this, 
amid a scene like this, is to receive a distinct shock. 
Viewing the towering buildings that stretch block 



32 ATLANTA 

on block ; seeing the endless stream of pedestrians^ 
of automobiles and street cars, and listening to 
the roar and din of a great City that throbs with 
the noise of boundless energy, it is impossible to 
grasp at once the significance of what the words 
mean. They seem to suggest some wild and horrid 
halucination, rather than to convey a sober truth, 
and one is prone to wonder if it can be a fact that 
shot and shell fell here so recently. If doubt leads 
to further observation, then doubt increases, for 
no where else is such evidence to be seen, so thor- 
oughly has the work of rehabilitation been done. 
The word of the historian must be accepted for 
the visible evidence is gone, all save the slender 
iron pole, with its gaping hole and its tiny tablet 
of bronze. 

The thoroughness with which the scars of war 
have been removed is one of the wonders of At- 
lanta. Deeper than those inflicted upon any other 
Southern city during those four years of bitter 
warfare, they have disappeared, vanished, gone 
like an evil dream, the last detail of which is 
forgotton when the sunlight of a new day floods 
the room and the hush of night gives way to the 
voice of birds. 

While these impressions were flooding my 
mind as I looked upon the ancient lamp-post, I re- 
called how in my youth, when Atlanta was my 
home, I used to go with other boys to the old 
swimming hole in Peachtree Creek, and recalled 
also that we used to see about this creek the earth- 
en works thrown up by the rival forces as they 
fought for the great prize which Atlanta consti- 
tuted in the eyes of the military leaders. A great 





GOVERNMENT BUILDING (ABOVE), AND CITY HALL 



OLD SCARS ARE HEALED 33 

wilderness it was in those days, reached after a 
long walk beyond the point where the dimunitive 
horse cars stopped to begin the return trip to the 
City. Through this wilderness one could see where 
the breastworks had wormed their tortuous way. 
Overgrown with trees and covered with under- 
brush at times, they still were discernible. So 
to Peachtree Creek I went, following the same 
course that was followed by the tiny horse cars 
some thirty years ago. But the horse car was 
gone, together with the horses, and instead of 
the mellow tinkle of the little bells that used to 
sway from the collars of the horses, was heard 
the crash of heavy cars and the restless honk- 
honk of hurrying automobiles. Nor was there a 
terminus at which one might alight and continue 
his way through the woods to the old creek. On 
and on the big cars thundered, crossing the creek 
and speeding forward to some remote suburb, fol- 
lowed, or passed, as the case might be, by the 
endless procession of automobiles and trucks. 

The journey was made along a beautiful boule- 
vard, which gained proportions of real magnifi- 
cence as my destination was reached, and which 
maintained these proportions long after the broad 
sweep across Peachtree Creek. This wonderful 
highway penetrated the very heart of what had 
been a wilderness, and reaching out from it in all 
directions were other boulevards, flanked by state- 
ly homes. A beautiful and truly marvelous trans- 
formation; a transformation so thorough that I 
was completely lost. The creek was the only 
thing unchanged. It still made its tortuous way 
through what had been a wilderness, swift and 



34 ATLANTA 

red, as the waters were on those hot and terrible 
days when men fought upon its banks with so 
much of courage and so much of desperation, and 
when many sank into its turbid breast to find 
the peace that had been denied them in life. 

All else was changed. A passenger station 
nearby poured out its baggage-laden throng. The 
cry of "taxi, taxi," floated across the valley. 
Street cars clanged. Here and there negroes 
propelled hand mowers across velvet-like lawns, 
where children played. In the distance smoke 
issued from stacks and drifted lazily away. In- 
dustry, too, had made its invasions. Clearly the 
days of hickory nut hunting and of swimming 
a la nature were things of the past. The vast 
solitude where men had fought and died and made 
glorious history existed no longer. 

The old battle ground in this quarter has be- 
come a scene of beauty that might furnish the 
inspiration for an epic. The homes, many of 
them ranking among the most beautiful in Atlan- 
ta, set far back from the thoroughfares and are 
surrounded by grounds whose generous depth and 
native charm are suggestive of dignity and re- 
pose. A tablet here and there marks some spot 
where the tide of war reached the flood but by 
no other tokens could one learn that armies once 
were locked in fierce embrace upon this Very 
ground. Thus Atlanta has demonstrated that its 
powers of transformation are in no wise circum- 
scribed. 

Another day I rode for many miles about the 
City, over winding boulevards that skirted the 
high hills and swept gracefully through the val- 



OLD SCARS ARE HEALED 35 

leys, passing many points where history was 
made — and graves were filled — while the armies 
in blue and the armies in gray fought for pos- 
session of the city, and it was not of war, but 
of peace at its best, that these scenes spoke. 

It was mid- April, and every green thing seemed 
eager to become clothed with the vesture of Sum- 
mer. Trees and shrubs put forth their tender 
shoots, covering hills and valleys with the most 
delicate shades and making the stately pines ap- 
pear almost black. Wild honeysuckle splashed 
the hillsides with color, and here and there dog- 
wood blossoms stood out like patches of snow 
left by reluctant Winter. Peach orchards were 
in bloom, and in more isolated places the ground 
was carpeted with purple violets, so thick at times 
that one scarcely could walk without stepping 
upon them. Scars nowhere, but beauty and peace 
everywhere ! 

Thus, as Atlanta reaped the fury of the storm 
of 1861-65, because of her great zeal for those 
principles for which the South poured out its 
wealth and its blood, so she has reaped the full 
and gracious fruits of peace because of the cour- 
age with which she faced the future and the zeal 
with which she led in the long, hard struggle to 
realize for the South the splendid heritage that 
remained, in spite of the devasting influences of 
war. As she was doubly punished then, she has 
been doubly rewarded since. 

The first thrill of apprehension concerning the 
future of Atlanta as ''The Citadel of the Confed- 
eracy," came in the wake of the victory achieved 
by the L^nion forces at Chattanooga, where Gen- 



36 ATLANTA 

eral Bragg, after a brilliant victory at Chicka- 
mauga, was overwhelmed, meeting the defeat 
which led to his voluntary retirement and the ap- 
pointment of General Joseph E. Johnston as his 
successor. 

General Sherman had assisted General Grant 
in the Chattanooga campaign, and shortly there- 
after, upon the appointment of Grant as Lieuten- 
ant-General of the armies of the United States 
and his retirement to Virginia, Sherman was put 
in charge of the Department of Mississippi, which 
included Tennessee and Georgia. That General 
Sherman was fully alive to the value of Atlanta 
to the Confederacy, both morally and materially, 
there is no doubt, and every step in the game of 
strategy he played had for its ultimate aim the 
capture of this city. 

The force which General Sherman directed 
against Atlanta, at the opening of the campaign, 
consisted of a fraction under one hundred thous- 
and men, while General Johnston had at his dis- 
posal approximately forty-three thousand. Be- 
fore the campaign was well under way, Sherman 
was re-inforced by 14,000 cavalry, and later 
Blair's corps, consisting of 9,000 men, was added 
to his force. Meanwhile General Johnston re- 
ceived re-enforcements aggregating about 23,000. 
His army reached the maximum of fighting 
strength at the battle of Kennesaw Mountain, 
where he had 59,248 effectives. 

With the approach of the Union forces, before 
whose overwhelming numbers the Confederates 
were being forced slowly to retire, apprehension 
began to be felt among the citizens of Atlanta, 



OLD SCARS ARE HEALED 37 

and every effort was made to insure the safety 
of the City. The Federals had begun (May 1, 
1864) the repair of the Western and Atlantic 
Railroad between Ringgold and Chattanooga, 
with the obvious purpose of providing an unfail- 
ing source of supply, and meanwhile continued 
pressue was brought against the Confederate 
lines. 

On April 26, 1864, ''The InteUigencer " called 
public attention to the peril of Atlanta, and short- 
ly thereafter active preparations were under way 
for the defense of the city by Atlanta citizens. 
On May 9, notices were published calling upon 
"all persons between the ages of sixteen and 
sixty, not in the service of the Confederate 
States," to appear at the city hall "for the pur- 
pose of being armed and equipped for local de- 
fense." The "Local Militia" was organized 
among the forces thus enlisted, and on May 17 
there was an inspection of troops for local de- 
fense, characterized at the time as "the finest 
military display in every respect that had ever 
been witnessed in Atlanta." From which one 
may well infer that the men of sixty and the boys 
of sixteen made a brave and gallant showing as 
they paraded along Marietta Street 

With the passing of the days, apprehension 
grew,and on May 23, a proclamation was issued 
by Mayor James M. Calhoun, in the following 
language : 

"In view of the dangers which threaten us, and 
in persuance of a call made by General Wright 
and General Wayne, I require all male citizens 
of Atlanta, capable of bearing arms, without re- 



38 ATLANTA 

gard to occupation, who are not in the Confer- 
erate or State service, to report by 12 M., on 
Thursday, the 26th inst., to 0. H. Jones, marshal 
of the city, to be organized into companies and 
armed, and to report to General Wright when 
organized. And all male citizens who are not 
willing to defend their homes and families are 
requested to leave the city at their earliest con- 
venience, as their presence only embarrasses the 
authorities and tends to the demoralization of 
others. ' ' 

The extreme gravity of the situation may be 
gauged by the fact that no age limit was observed 
in the Mayor's proclamation, its provisions ap- 
plying to ''all male citizens," instead of to those 
between the ages of sixteen and sixty, as there- 
tofore. 

Four days after the issuance of this proclama- 
tion. May 27, 1864, the people of Atlanta heard 
for the first time the thunder of the guns which 
ultimately were to play such havoc in their fair 
City. The enemy had reached their gates. The 
Federals had been repulsed at Rocky Face Ridge 
and Mill Creek Gap; Wheeler's cavalry had put 
Stoneman's cavalry to flight near Tunnel Hill, 
but the Confederates had met a severe repulse 
east of Ostanaula. The desperate battle of New 
Hope church had been fought, darkness bringing 
it to a close with indecisive results. On the 27th 
there was terrific fighting between Cleburnes di- 
vision and the Fourth Federal Corps near Pick- 
ett's Mill, in which heavy losses were inflicted 
upon the Federals, but the following day the Con- 
federates met a severe repulse. 



OLD SCARS ARE HEALED 39 

Fighting desperately, .and scoring occasional 
local victories, the Confederates nevertheless 
were forced back steadily, and on June 4th Gen- 
eral Johnston abandoned Acworth and Altoona, 
retiring to a position near Kennesaw Mountain, 
where occurred one of the most spectacular bat- 
tles in the Atlanta campaign. The battle of Ken- 
nesaw Mountain proved another Confederate 
triumph, but, as on so many other occasions, 
*'the Yankees wouldn't stay licked," and the re- 
sult was merely to postpone the inevitable. 

Describing this battle in his Memoirs, General 
Sherman said, "About 9 A. M. of the day ap- 
pointed (June 27, 1864) the troops moved to the 
assault, and all along our line for ten miles a 
furious fire of artillery and musketry was kept 
up. At all points the enemy met us with deter- 
mined courage and great force. McPher son's col- 
umn fought up the face of lesser Kennesaw, but 
could not reach the summit. About a mile to the 
right (Just below the Dallas Road) Thomas's as- 
saulting column reached the parapet, where Brig- 
adier-General Harker was shot down and mor- 
tally wounded, and Brigadier-General McCook 
(my old law partner) was desperately wounded, 
from the effects of which he afterward died. By 
11 :30 the assault was, in fact, over, and had 
failed. We had not broken the rebel line at either 
point." 

In view of the inhuman methods resorted to 
by the Germans in the great World War, it is 
worth while to record here an incident which il- 
lustrates the presence of a contrary spirit among 
the Americans who were fighting one another in 



40 ATLANTA 

'61- '65. At the battle of Kennesaw Mountain the 
fire of the Confederates upon the Federals was 
so terrific that the woods were set on fire at a 
point Avhere General Barker's forces had made a 
daring but futile assault. Here the ground was 
thickly strewn with the dead and dying, and when 
flames arose, threatening to burn the living with 
the dead, the Confederates were ordered to cease 
firing, one of their commanders calling to the 
Federals that fire would be withheld until the 
wounded could be carried off the field. There- 
upon the battle ceased upon this front, and was 
not renewed until the wounded had been removed. 
Then the exchange of shot and shell was resumed 
with wonted fury. It was thus that brave men 
fought. 

The severe repulse received by Sherman at 
Kennesaw Mountain, whose sombre brow is clear- 
ly visible from Atlanta skyscrapers, had no ma- 
terial effect upon his plans. He pushed doggedly 
on. This battle was not over before he realized 
its futility, and before the last shot was fired, he 
had started a movement toward the Chattahoo- 
chee Eiver. This caused an immediate evacua- 
tion of their positions by the Confederates, who 
crossed the river for the purpose of placing them- 
selves between Atlanta and the oncoming army 
of Federals. The crossing of the Chattahoochee 
was effected by the Confederates on July 9th, the 
Federals pushing their forces across by the 17th, 
and thereby putting behind the last natural bar- 
rier that stood between them and Atlanta. 

On June 16, the body of General Polk, the dis- 
tinguished soldier-bishop, >ho had been killed 



OLD SCARS ARE HEALED 41 

the day before by a shell, was brought to Atlanta. 
Funeral services were held at St. Luke's Church, 
where the body had been escorted by a committee 
of prominent citizens. It was a time of great 
gloom in the City, and this atmosphere was deep- 
ened by the presence of the still form of this 
fallen leader. The victory at Kennesaw Moun- 
tain, which followed the death of General Polk by 
a few days, served temporarily to lift the pall of 
gloom, but subsequent events left little hope to 
those who felt that the fall of Atlanta meant the 
fall of the Confederacy, and who had longed for 
and prayed for some rift in the clouds. 

Meanwhile there was much criticism over the 
failure of the government at Richmond to lend 
assistance to General Johnston, it being pointed 
out that a sufficient force of cavalry could have 
been run in behind Sherman, destroying his 
lines of communication and thereby making con- 
tinued progress impossible. But no cristicsms, nor 
representations along this line, had effect, and no 
action was taken by the Richmond authorities 
until Sherman was upon Atlanta. At this point 
General Johnston was relieved of his command 
and General J. B. Hood was placed in charge. 
Thereupon much controversy arose concerning 
the wisdom of the step, the Confederate press 
expressing widely divergent views. However, 
the time came when it was generally conceded to 
have been one of the great blunders of the war. 
Sherman interpreted the change as meaning that 
there would be a change in tactics ; that under the 
impetuous Hood the Confederates would proceed 
to attack instead of merely resisting attack, and 



42 ATLANTA 

thereupon he caused notice of the change to be 
sent to all division commanders and warned them 
"to be always prepaved for battle in any shape. '^ 

News of the removal of General Johnston and 
the elevation of General Hood was conveyed to 
General Sherman by a Federal spy, who obtained 
a copy of a newspaper containing General John- 
ston's order relinquishing command, and escaped 
to the Federal lines. Thus General Sherman 
knew of the change within twenty-four hours. 

The forces of General Sherman were arrayed 
about Atlanta in the following order: General 
Palmer on the extreme right. General Hooker on 
the right center. General Howard center. General 
Scofield left center, and General McPherson on 
the extreme left. A general advance was made 
on July 18, and Peachtree Creek was reached on 
the following day, a line of battle being formed 
along the south bank of the creek by Howard, 
Hooker and Palmer. In the meantime the left 
wing had moved around toward Decatur, where 
several miles of railroad was torn up for the pur- 
pose of cutting off any possibility of communica- 
tion from that source. 

Matters stood thus on the morning of the 20th, 
when a portion of General Hood's army made a 
sudden and determined assault upon Howard's 
position, the attack being extended presently to 
the position of General Hooker. This assault, 
carried on with the utmost courage and des- 
peration, and involving about half of General 
Hood's forces, resulted in temporary gains, but 
before dark the Confederates, faced by over- 
whelming numbers, were forced to fall back, leav- 



OLD SCARS ARE HEALED 43 

ing several hundred of their dead upon the field. 
They had inflicted terriffic punishment upon the 
enemy, especially among the forces of General 
Hooker, whose losses were about fifteen hundred. 

On the day of this gallant but unsuccessful 
charge, Atlanta received her first baptism of fire 
from the guns of General Sherman. Only three 
shells fell in the city during the day, but the effect 
was more than ordinarily shocking, made so by 
the fact that the first one to fall killed a child at 
the intersection of Ivy and East Ellis Streets, 
the tragedy occurring in the presence of the 
father and mother of the child. 

The following day, July 21, was devoted by 
both sides to preparations for what was to prove 
a decisive struggle. General Hood withdrew from 
the Peachtree Creek line and occupied the *4ast 
ditch" position which had been prepared for the 
defense of Atlanta; a fortified line facing North 
and East. Here Stewart's Corps, a part of Har- 
dee's Corps, and G. W. Smith's division of mili- 
tia, were stationed, while General Hood's own 
corps, and the remainder of Hardee's moved to 
a road leading from McDonough to Decatur, the 
purpose being to strike the left of McPherson's 
line. Meanwhile General Wheeler's cavalry had 
been sent to Decatur for the purpose of attacking 
the supply trains of the enemy. 

General Hood's supreme effort occurred on the 
22nd, the following day, when a tremendous as- 
sault was made against the grand division of 
General McPherson, composed of Logan's and 
Blair's Corps, and which occupied the left of the 
Federal army. The assault was sudden and un- 



44 ATLANTA 

expected, and was carried with such fury that 
temporary success was achieved, but the enemy 
rallied to the shock, and was able to repel re- 
peated charges, in spite of the desperate courage 
displayed by the men in gray. During this bat- 
tle, General McPherson was killed, but General 
Logan assumed command at once and every as- 
sault of the Confederates was thrown back. 

Having failed on the left. General Hood opened 
a determined attack upon Sherman's right at 
4 o'clock in the afternoon, and carried forward 
the struggle for a time with conspicuous success. 
He broke through the main lines, capturing De 
"Gre's battery of four twenty-pound Parrott guns, 
and turning the weapons upon the enemy. Su- 
perior mimbers told, however, and in the end the 
Confederates were beaten back, being forced to 
abandon the captured guns. 

The result of these engagements, in which the 
smaller forces of General Hood threw all that 
they possessed of courage and resourcefulness 
into the conflict, sealed the fate of Atlanta, but 
the end was not yet. The losses in this battle 
Avere heavy, and the Confederates, waging the 
offensive, suffered most severely. General Hood's 
losses were estimated at 6,000 killed and wound- 
ed, while those of General Sherman were placed 
at 3,500. 

A truce was declared on the following day, 
July 23, for the burial of the dead, but this truce 
existed only upon the front where the fighting 
had raged. Meanwhile the shelling of Atlanta 
had been resumed, and was going along steadily 



OLD SCARS ARE HEALED 45 

while the Confederates consigned their dead to 
the grave. 

A third attempt to inflict defeat upon the be- 
seiging army was made by General Hood on July 
28, when Hardee's and Lee's infantry made a 
daring and spectacular attack upon the extreme 
right flank of the Federal army, commanded by 
General Logan. From 11 :30 in the morning until 
4 in the afternoon, the battle was waged with all 
the fury of desperation, but it, too, was futile. 
The enemy could not be dislodged. Here again, 
due to the nature of the fighting, the losses of the 
Confederates greatly outnumbered those of the 
Federals. General Logan placed his losses in 
killed and wounded at 572, while the Confederates 
suffered losses in killed and wounded aggrega- 
ting some 2,700, the figures bearing witness to 
the valor they displayed in charging the defenses 
of the enemy time and time again. 

From this time forward, throughout July, the 
Union forces made sundry efforts to break 
through the Confederate lines and enter Atlanta, 
but were repulsed on each occasion. Meanwhile 
the City was under fire and slowly but surely the 
damage from solid shot and explosive missies 
mounted upward. Early in August further at- 
tempts were made to penetrate the Confederate 
lines, attacks being launched on the 5th and 7th, 
but they were repulsed, as had been the previous 
assaults. 

August came and brought with it a tightening 
of the lines about the city. The enemy was seek- 
ing to cut off every line of communication with 
the outside world, and in this he finally succeed- 



46 ATLANTA 

ed. Meanwhile the shelling of the City continued, 
reaching its greatest fury on August 16, on which 
date numerous citizens were killed and injured 
and immense damage to property resulted. The 
Confederates had stationed a huge gun at Peach- 
tree and Kimball Streets, which they used with 
great effectiveness, but it served to concentrate 
the fire of the Federal gunners upon that quarter, 
resulting in great damage to numerous struc- 
tures in the business section. Other guns stationed 
about the city boomed furiously in reply to the 
thunder of the enemies Veapons, and between 
the sound of these explosions, and the continual 
crash of exploding shells, the city became an 
inferno of noise, swollen at frequent intervals 
by the roar of a falling building. The very air 
was loathsome with the odor of burned powder, 
while a pall of smoke and dust overhung the City, 
so thick that the sun seemed a ball of feebly glow- 
ing sulphur. 

This shelling of a city, with its thousands of 
helpless women and children, and its feeble old 
men, seemed a monstrous thing to General Hood, 
and he wrote a letter to General Sherman pro- 
testing in the most vigorous terms, but what he 
had to say made no impression upon the grim 
leader of the beseiging hosts. General Sherman 
replied by charging General Hood with cowardice 
in seeking shelter in a city full of women and 
children and then appealing to the enemy for 
mercy, and reminding the General that war ''is 
the science of barbarism," the main object being 
to slay and destroy. After pronouncing this grim 
doctrine, he expressed love for the South, but 



OLD SCARS ARE HEALED 47 

made it evident that he considered it entitled to 
considerable punishment. 

On the last day of August the final struggle 
between the contending forces in and about At- 
lanta was fought at Jonesboro, where the Con- 
federates did their utmost to break the strangle- 
hold of the Federals, but without success. With 
the loss of this battle hope for Atlanta vanished 
and General Hood prepared quickly to abandon 
the city. 

The psychological effect of the fall of Atlanta 
was tremendous. The fight of the South had been 
waged with such relentless vigor, and had been 
crowned with so many successes, particularly 
under General Robert E. Lee, that the gloom 
throughout the North was intense. Though forced 
hacked repeatedly by overwhelming numbers, the 
armies of the Confederacy seemed to be unbeat- 
able, and there was a feeling that the struggle 
would be prolonged indefinitely. This condition 
had created so much dissatisfaction in the North 
that grave doubt existed concerning the re-elec- 
tion of President Lincoln. There was a very gen- 
eral demand for a change, and the administration 
viewed the approaching election with grave con- 
cern. Not only so, but there was in the North 
a strong sentiment in favor of closing the wai* 
by compromise. 

With the fall of Atlanta, the change was elec- 
trical. The North foresaw the end, and was de- 
lirious with joy. The re-elction of Lincoln was 
made certain, and talk of compromise was hushed. 

This crowning disaster to Southern arms, came 
suddenly and was due largely to an entire change 



48 ATLANTA 

of tactics, following the supplanting of General 
Johnston hy General Hood. The former had 
carried on a remarkable campaign, refusing to 
accept battle with the overwhelming forces of 
Sherman unless the conditions were favorable to 
his own forces; a method under which the max- 
imum of punishment was inflicted upon the en- 
emy and a minimum of loss was sustained by the 
Confederates. He lost much territory, but main- 
tained an army upon a high state of efficiency, 
and it was an army that Sherman always ap- 
proached with the utmost caution. 

With the ascendency of General Hood, the 
aggressive was adopted, and the comparatively 
small forces under him were thrown against the 
mighty army of Sherman in magnificient assaults 
that accomplished no important results, but 
served to reduce the army in frightful fashion. 
This mode of fighting about Atlanta cost the Con- 
federate army as many men, within a few hun- 
dred, as had been lost under Johnston during all 
the fighting that had occurred in the seventy-odd 
days preceding the change in commanders. In 
the interval between July 17, 1864, and February 
23, 1865, When General Johnston was reinstated, 
the army which he had built up and which he had 
conserved with masterly skill, was shot to pieces. 

Following the fall of Atlanta, one of the most 
astonishing military developments in all history 
was witnessed. General Hood shortly thereafter 
turned his army toward Tennessee and in a little 
while General Sherman was headed for Savan- 
nah. Thus two forces that had faced one another 
and fought one another through weeks and 



OLD SCARS ARE HEALED 49 

months, were back to back — one sweeping prac- 
tically unopposed through the State like a devour- 
ing flame, and the other headed for ultimate ruin 
upon another front. A unique and amazing spec- 
tacle ! 



CHAPTER IV. 

Through War's Furnace 

PREPARATIONS for the evacuation of At- 
lanta proceeded with great rapidity, and 
by midnight of September 1, the withdraw- 
al was complete, save for a small cavalry 
force whose labors would not be complete until 
the militarj^ stores in the city, which it was im- 
possible to remove, had been destroyed. 

This work of destruction began about the mid- 
night hour, and for a little while the city resem- 
bled a seething volcano. The earth trembled be- 
neath the force of mighty explosions as locomo- 
tives were bloA\Ti up at shops and round houses, 
and the din reached appalling proportions as the 
work of destroying seventy carloads of ammuni- 
tion began. The noise of exploding shells was 
incessant and the heavens were continuously 
aglow with the flames which shot high above the 
City as carload after carload of munitions were 
destroyed. Houses rocked "upon their founda- 
tions as the earth reeled beneath the mighty im- 
pact, while the noise of breaking glass and fall- 
ing plaster added to the din. 

Until almost dawn the work of destruction 
went forward, and then the cavalrymen who had 
thus signified the passing of Atlanta from the 
hands of the Confederates, quickly withdrew to 
join the retreating forces of General Hood. 

With the departure of the Confederates, which 
left the City without government of any kind. 



THROUGH AVAR'S FURNACE 51 

there was a brief reign of anarchy. The lawless 
element, finding the reins of authority lying loose, 
formed into sundry groups and began to loot 
stores and vacant dwellings. But the things ob- 
tained were of comparatively little value, as most 
merchants had foreseen the possibility of such an 
eventuality, and valuables had been put out of 
the way. 

Under the almost continuous rain of shells, the 
people of Atlanta had become phlegmatic; accus- 
tomed to the noise and the danger and quite at 
home in their dug-outs or cellars. Now a new 
and unknown something awaited them, and a feel- 
ing of profound apprehension gripped the com- 
munity. No notice had been given of the in- 
tended evacuation b}^ the Confederate forces, and 
some, the day before, even cherished the delusion 
that a great victory had been achieved over 
Sherman at Jonesboro. Now the defenders were 
gone, and the enemy stood without the city gates 
with nothing to hinder his entrance. AAHiat would 
he do when in possession? AMiat new horrors 
awaited this afflicted people? 

These questions, upon almost every lip, went 
unanswered for a time. Quiet fell upon the City, 
death-like after the awful noises of the night be- 
fore. And while the people waited in tense 
silence, the invaders made no move. No soldiers 
in blue appeared, no messengers arrived, no 
token of any kind came from beyond those lines 
where were tens of thousands of armed men; 
men who had fought their way for hundreds of 
miles in order to realize this hour. 



52 ATLANTA 

The apprehension and uncertainty grew, and 
finally Mayor Calhoun called a conference of 
prominent citizens to formulate some line of con- 
duct. They met near the intersection of Peach- 
tree and Marietta Streets, and there, surrounded 
by the debris of damaged buildings, they decided 
that the thing to do was to communicate with 
General Sherman and, as the Confederate leader 
had made no formal surrender of the City, this 
should be done by the civil authorities. This 
decision reached, it was decided to notify General 
Sherman at once, and then came up the question 
of whether or not members of the party should 
bear arms. ''No," said the Mayor, "this would 
never do," and thereupon weapons were laid 
aside, it being observed while this was being done 
that one of the party had four revolvers on his 
person! He evidently had expected to fight until 
the last ditch. 

It required courage for these men to lay aside 
their arms and go forth into the ranks of the 
enemy, for they were liable to be fired upon long 
before they could reach General Sherman, but 
the call of duty was clear, and they went forth 
unafraid. They rode out Marietta Street, where 
progress even on horseback was made difficult 
at times by reason of the mass of debris which 
littered the street; remnants of houses that had 
been torn to pieces by shells. On they went 
through this scene of devastation, reaching and 
crossing the deserted earthworks of the Confed- 
erates where so many gallant efforts had been 
made to save their city, and thence into the open 
toward the works of the Federals. 



THROUGH WAR'S FURNACE 53 

For four miles the little body of civilians pro- 
gressed along a smitten path, when suddenly, 
at a point where their movements had been con- 
cealed for the moment by the contour of the 
earth, they came upon a company of marching 
soldiers — ^men in blue. The committee halted, 
while a Union Colonel rode up for an explana- 
tion. Their story was quickly told, and thereupon 
an orderly was instructed to escort the commit- 
tee to the headquarters of General Sherman. 

Shown into the presence of the General, they 
found a disheveled and care-worn individual, sur- 
rounded by none of the "pomp and circum- 
stance ' ' of war ; a man who evidently found it an 
ugly business, but whose stern countenance be- 
trayed an unalterable purpose to finish it at any 
cost. 

Addressing General Sherman, Mayor Calhoun 
explained the condition of the City and said that 
he had come to surrender it, the only condition 
being that life, liberty and private property be 
protected. What this brave executive would have 
done had his conditions been declined, opens an 
interesting field of speculation, but, fortunately, 
no such contingency arose. Speaking in short, 
crisp sentences. General Sherman said that the 
conditions would be granted, and, at the same 
time, he added that the civil authorities had pur- 
sued the right course in coming directly to him. 
He ventured the hope that their relations would 
be pleasant, "But this is war," he barked out 
with a great oath, "and I must place your town 
under martial law." 



54 ATLANTA 

When, as they were taking leave of the Union 
Commander, one of the committee said, "Now 
that we have surrendered, you will probably 
come in at once, ' ' General Sherman cried, ' ' Come 
in! I think some of my men are already there." 
Then, darting a searching glance at Mayor Cal- 
houn, he said: ''I suppose it is understood that 
none of your people will fire upon my soldiers?" 
He was assured that this would not be done, and 
thereupon the committeemen turned their faces 
once more toward Atlanta, where they had suf- 
fered so many hardships and disappointments, 
and where, though they thought the cup of bit- 
terness had been drained, some dregs remained, 
as poignant as any that had gone before. 

The arrival of the blue-clad host began im- 
mediately and continued throughout the day, the 
only opposition they met coming from a half 
dozen Confederate cavalrymen who had lingered 
in the city, and who fired a few shots at the 
enemy upon Decatur Street. Kealizing, however, 
the futility of attempting to do what General 
Hood and his batallions had failed to accomplish, 
these dashing cavalrymen whirled almost imme- 
diately and clattered off in pursuit of the Con- 
federate army. Thus Atlanta passed into the 
hands of the enemy, and thus opened that final 
chapter of the City's slow march up the hill called 
Golgotha, in which it bore its cross of suffering 
to the very peak. 

With the arrival of the Federal forces, the city 
underwent an immediate transformation. Deal- 
ers in all sorts of merchandise came swift upon 
the heels of the advance guard of soldiers, and 



THROUGH AVAR'S FURNACE 55 

by nightfall empty stores had been stocked with 
goods, groceries, clothing and the like, and enter- 
prising newsdealers were crying their wares. 
Daily newspapers from New York, magazines and 
even novels were displayed, and Atlanta began 
to experience a revival of commerce. Quarter- 
master's stores were brought into the City in 
great quantities, and a depot of supplies was 
opened by the United States Sanitary Commis- 
sion. 

The influx continued throughout the entire 
night, and far into the following day. Billiard 
rooms and bars were opened, and advertisements 
appeared announcing a minstrel performance for 
that night. Dense crowds of soldiers and civilians 
thronged the streets, but there was no disorder. 

As soon as a survey had been made of the 
City, the homes of some of the most prosperous 
citizens were taken over for the commanding offi- 
cers of the Union army. General Sherman made 
his headquarters in a large building at the cor- 
ner of Mitchell and Washington Streets, after- 
ward used as a high school. 

Fear that the women might be subjected to in- 
dignities disappeared quickly, as the soldiers were 
courteous as a rule, and were subject to strict 
discipline. Want had multiplied in the City dur- 
ing the long seige, when it was almost impossible 
to bring in supplies, and measures of relief were 
taken at once by the invaders. Food was distri- 
buted to those who needed it. But while these 
developments were gratifying to the people, and 
furnished some measure of relief from the appre- 
hension which weighed upon them, they sensed 



56 ATLANTA 

the fact that they were under a stern and impla- 
cable ruler and no show of consideration could 
remove entirely the fears that compassed them 
about. 

The Union flag was hoisted, of course, and the 
attitude of the people toward this emblem M^as 
watched closely. It was observed in one instance 
that a young lady, in front of whose home a flag 
had been placed, began to leave and to enter by 
the rear door. It being obvious that it was her 
purpose to avoid walking under the flag, the stars 
and stripes were raised above the back door. 
Confronted by this situation, the young lady, one 
of the most beautiful in Atlanta, 'proceeded to 
show her defiance by climbing in and out a win- 
dow! Having auburn hair and the high-strung 
disposition which is popularly supposed to go 
with it, she was extreme in her denunciations of 
the ** Yankees," but that even such rage as that 
displayed by her may melt, was demonstrated 
by subsequent events. 

Another charming but quick-tempered belle of 
the sixties, who was exceedingly bitter against 
the ** Yankees," was a frequent visitor at the 
home of my grandfather, Dr. Henry Carr Horn- 
ady, then pastor of the First Baptist Church in 
Atlanta. On one occasion when she was engaged 
in a characteristic denunciation of the foe. Dr. 
Hornady sought to tease her by saying: "Don't 
go on so, child, for you may be marrying one of 
these handsome Yankee officers before this thins: 
is over." She replied, ''Never, I'd die first," 
but the truth is that she did this very thing some 



THROUGH WAR'S FURNACE 57 

time thereafter, and the marriage was a happy 
one. 

In this connection it might be observed, that 
when the war ended finally, the "Yankee" offic- 
ers had a distinct advantage over the returned 
Southerners when it came to courting the fair sex. 
The Southern boys were in rags for the most part, 
and there was no way of providing the becoming 
garments of the period. Old carpets, rugs and 
draperies were cut up and transformed into suits, 
and even bedticking was used. The result in most 
cases was to merely provide a covering for the 
body, and the young man adorned with one of 
these make-shift suits lacked much of being a 
Beau Brummell. Those who were no better pro- 
vided for naturally were somewhat backward 
about seeking the society of the belles of the hour, 
and thus golden opportunities were allowed to 
slip. 

Contrasted with the pitiful raiment of many of 
these young men, the smart uniforms of the Union 
officers shone resplendently, and they experienced 
none of the hesitency that characterized the native 
sons when it came to seeking the society of the fair 
sex. Thus circumstances, over which no one had 
control, so shaped events that many Northern 
youths found the opportunity to make themselves 
agreeable to the belles of the South, and it was in- 
evitable that, in the course of time, some should 
have won their way into the hearts that once had 
flamed with hate. It was some time, however, be- 
fore this state of affairs eventuated, nor is it to be 
assumed that the Southern boys were crowded out 
entirely. That would be far from the truth, for 



58 ATLANTA 

with truly Spartan courage, thousands upon thous- 
ands of lovely Southern girls, disregarding the 
poor apparel and the empty pockets of the return- 
ed soldiers, united with them and entered joyous- 
ly upon the work of rearing citadels out of which 
flowed streams of healing that helped mightily in 
the rehabilitation of the stricken South. 

The uncertainty that attended the coming of the 
Federal troops into Atlanta was dispelled in a few 
days, and then the people learned for the first time 
how full was to be the measure of their punish- 
ment. In their wildest flights of fancy they had 
not dreamed of being turned from their homes and 
forced into exile, but this is the unhappy fate that 
befell them. On September 4th, General Sherman 
issued his order of exile, the opening paragraph 
reading : 

' ' The City of Atlanta being exclusively required 
for warlike purposes, will be at once vacated by 
all except the armies of the United States, and 
such civilians as may be retained." 

In this proclamation no time limit was set by 
General Sherman for the forced departure of the 
civilian population, but this limit was fixed at ten 
days in a communication which he addressed to 
General Hood, three days later. In this letter, 
which was conveyed to the Confederate Com- 
mander by two citizens of Atlanta who had been 
designated for the purpose by General Sherman, 
the Union Commander said: 

* ' General : — I have deemed it to be for the inter- 
est of the United States that the citizens now re- 
siding in Atlanta shall remove; those who prefer, 
to go South, the rest to go North. For the former 



THROUGH WAR'S FURNACE 59 

I can provide transportation in ears as far as 
Rough and Ready, and also wagons ; but that their 
removal may be made with as little discomfort as 
possible, it will be necessary to help the families 
from the cars at Rough and Ready to the cars at 
Love joy. If you consent, I will undertake to re- 
move all the families who prefer to go South to 
Rough and Ready, with all their movable effects, 
viz.; clothing, trunks, reasonable furniture, bed- 
ding, etc., with their servants, white or black, 
with the provision that no force will be used to- 
ward the blacks one way or another; but if they 
want to go with their masters and mistresses they 
may go, otherwise they will be sent away, except 
the men, who may be employed by our quarter- 
master. Atlanta is no place for families of non- 
combatants, and I have no desire to send them 
North if you will assist to convey them South. If 
my proposition meets your views I will consent to 
have troops in the neighborhood of Rough and 
Ready, stipulating that no wagon, horses, animals 
or persons sent for the purpose stated, shall be in 
any manner harmed or molested; you on your 
part agreeing, that no cars, carriages, persons or 
animals shall be interfered with. Each might send 
a guard, say of one hundred men, to maintain 
order, and to limit the truce to ten days after a 
certain time appointed. I have authorized the 
Mayor to designate two citizens to carry this 
letter and such other documents as he may for- 
ward in explanation. I shall await your reply. I 
have the honor to be your obedient servant, 
*'W. T. Sherman, Major-General." 



60 ATLANTA 

Upon receipt of this communication, Gen- 
eral Hood entered a vigorious protest against the 
proposed action, sending the following commun- 
ication to General Sherman: 

*' General: — Your letter of yesterday's date 
borne by James M. Ball and James K. Crew, cit- 
ens of Atlanta, has been received. You say therein 
that you deem it to be for the interest of the Unit- 
ed States for the citizens residing in Atlanta to be 
removed, and so forth. I do not consider that I 
have an alternative in the matter. I accept the 
proposition to declare a truce of ten days, or such 
time as may be necessary to accomplish the pur- 
pose mentioned, and shall render all the assist- 
ance in my power to expediate the transportation 
of citizens in this direction. I suggest that a staff 
officer be appointed by you to superintend the 
removal to Rough and Ready, while I will appoint 
a like officer to control the removal further south ; 
that a guard of one hundred be sent by each party, 
as you propose, to maintain order at that place, 
and that the removal begin next Monday. 

* ' And, now, Sir, permit me to say that the un- 
precedented measure you propose transcends, in 
studied and ingenious cruelty, all acts ever 
before brought to my attention in the dark history 
of this war. In the name of God and humanity, I 
protest, and believe you will find yourself wrong 
in thus expelling from their homes and firesides 
the wives and children of a brave people. I have 
the honor to be, General, 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"J. B. Hood." 



THROUGH WAR'S FURNACE 61 

The tart comment of General Hood had no ef- 
fect upon General Sherman, who proceeded with- 
out loss of time to put into effect his arrangements 
for ridding the City of its civil population. Notice 
was given that the exodus would begin the fol- 
lowing Monday, and forthwith hurried prepara- 
tion was made by the people to leave their homes 
— for they knew not what. It was the saddest, 
blackest day in all the troubled history of the little 
community, for not one, man, woman or child, 
knew what the future held in store. They knew 
only that they were turning their backs upon dear, 
familiar firesides; that they were leaving behind 
places where had existed the most tender associa- 
tion, and many an eye was dim as the sad proces- 
sions made their way out of the community — wo- 
men and children and aged men forming a picture 
of indescribable pathos. But there was naught of 
humiliation in their attitude. Bearing themselves 
with the same high courage that had character- 
ized them throughout the troubled years of the 
conflict, they moved on, undismayed and unafraid, 
to the uncretain fate that lay before them. 

The exodus to the South carried 446 families, 
including 860 children and 705 adults. The record 
of the number going North is not preserved, 
though it undoubtedly was much smaller. That the 
movement was conducted with skill and with such 
attention to the humanities as conditions made 
possible, is attested by a communication address- 
ed by Major Clare, of General Hood's staff, to 
Colonel Warner, of General Sherman's staff. In 
this letter, written under date of Sept. 22, 1864, 
Colonel Clare said: 



62 ATLANTA 

' ' Colonel : — Our official communication is about 
to cease. You will permit me to bear testimony to 
the uniform courtesy you have shown on all occas- 
ions to me and my people, and the promptness 
with which you have corrected all irregularities 
arising in our intercourse. Hoping at some time 
to be able to reciprocate your positive kindness, 
I remain with respect, Your obedient servant." 

The Federal forces remained in Atlanta until 
General Sherman had completed his plans for the 
famous "march to the sea," whereupon he ap- 
plied the torch and went on his way toward Savan- 
nah, Nov. 15, 1864. 

In his final blow at the "Citadal of the Confed- 
eracy," General Sherman was thorough, as in all 
things. Few buildings were omitted from his 
plan of destruction, and these for reasons which 
seemed sufficient to him but were something of a 
mystery to the citizens when they returned. 
Whitehall Street Avas largely a mass of ruins, and 
Alabama Street presented much the same aspect. 
Some buildings were left standing on Pryor, Hun- 
ter, Mitchell and Loyd Streets, but Marietta pre- 
sented a scene of terrible desolation. Business 
blocks, churches, homes and hovels had crumbled 
beneath the fury of the flames, the total number 
of buildings destroyed being estimated at four 
thousand five hundred. The list included every 
building in the City devoted to education. Thus 
it would appear that the lamented Henry Grady 
was indulging in no idle dream when, before the 
New England Society in New York, he dropped 
the observation that some people thought General 
Sherman was "kind of careless about fire." 



THROUGH WAR'S FURNACE 63 

Following the evacuation of the Union army, 
the Confederates again entered, the first official 
order appearing after the reoccupation of the City 
bearing the date of Dec. 2, 1864. That the military 
leaders had not given up hope or weakened in 
their purpose, is shown by the fact that steps to 
strengthen the forces were taken immediately af- 
after headquarters had been opened. On Dec. 8, a 
call was issued for all persons in Fulton Count)^ 
between the ages of 16 and 55 to report at the Citj^ 
Hall for military duty. The age limits fixed here, 
and in previous calls, would appear to have been 
extreme, but, as a matter of fact, many persons 
under sixteen and over fifty-five volunteered for 
service. This Avas true at the beginning of the 
conflict, and was so until the end. Boys of four- 
teen and fifteen frequently ran away from their 
homes and enlisted under the pretense that they 
were sixteen, and bewhiskered men of sixty and 
over — good shots and innured to hardships, — gave 
themselves willingly to the cause, hence the saying 
that ' ' the cradle and the grave ' ' contributed to the 
armies of the Confederacy. The gameness and 
endurance of these old men, and the dauntless 
spirit of the boys, contributed much to the valour 
of the Southern armies, and helped to make lum- 
inous their record of achievement. 

No sooner had the word gone forth that the Con- 
federates again occupied Atlanta, than the exiled 
citizens began to return. Mayor Calhoun was 
back and had assumed his duties by the tenth, as 
had Marshal 0. H. Jones. Other prominent citiz- 
ens who returned at once included Dr. J. F. Alex- 
ander, Col. J. W. Duncan, Col. Cowart, Judge 



64 ATLANTA 

Butt, Perino Brown, Dr, Simmons, Major Thomp- 
son, Major Bacon, Dr. Lawshee, L. C. Salmon, J. 
T. Porter, Messrs. Peck and Purtell, Col. N. J. 
Hammond, Col. J. I. Whitaker, Rev. Henry Carr 
Hornady, Col. G. W. Lee, Judge C. H. Strong, W. 
W. Roark, Captain Hubbard, W. P. Howard, and 
others. 

This little handful of pioneers began at once the 
work of rehabilitation, being joined daily by oth- 
ers who also applied themselves to the task. J. G. 
Pounds opened a store at the corner of Whitehall 
and Mitchell Streets, and other enterprises began 
to appear. On Christmas Day religious services 
were resumed, the first sermon delivered in the 
City after its destruction being preached by Dr. 
Hornady, pastor of the First Baptist Church. It 
was a sermon of hope, and of prophecy, and it is 
interesting to record that the speaker on that 
memorable occasion lived to see his vision of a 
new-born city, peopled by a happy and contented 
citizenship, realized to the full. At the time of his 
death, thirty-two years later, Atlanta had become 
one of the great cities of the South. 

With the repair of the railroads and the open- 
ing of avenues of transportation, the influx of re- 
turning exiles grew in volume, and before the win- 
ter of 1864-65 was over, the population had again 
attained considerable proportions. But it was a 
time of great trial to the people. In many instanc- 
es every vestige of homes and places of business 
had been wiped out, and the people literally began 
to build for the future amid the ashes of what had 
been. Atlanta at this time was no place for the ad- 
venturer and the neer-do-well. The situation here 



THROUGH WAR'S FURNACE 65 

challenged the strongest and the most purposeful, 
and it was this type of men and women v/ho ap- 
plied themselves to the work of rehabilitation. Im- 
bued with a passionate love for the community, 
and inspired by unfaltering faith in its future, 
they wrought miracles of restoration, in spite of 
the derth of materials. 

The work of destruction in Atlanta had not 
stopped with the burning of thousands of build- 
ings. Every piece of machinery that might have 
been useful in the work of restoration, had been 
damaged beyond repair. Lathes and engines had 
been broken up, boilers had exploded, saw-mills 
had been reduced to junk, and there remained 
practically nothing with which to work save the 
bare hands. As a result, the early structures were 
of a temporary character, but as soon as the 
machinery and materials could be brought in, 
permanency became the key-note of endeavor, as 
is sho^\Ti by the presence today of numerous sub- 
stantial structures, reared during the period of 
reconstruction, and still rendering useful service. 

With the celebration of Resurrection Day in the 
churches of Atlanta in the Spring of 1865, the City 
was virile with life. Easter services were held 
throughout the community and it was a day of 
renewed hope and kindling faith. Services at this 
time were being held at the First Baptist Church, 
Rev. H. C. Hornady; Central Presbyterian 
Church, Rev. John S. Wilson; Wesley Chapel, 
Rev. W. W. Wightman, and Trinity Church, Rev. 
R. A. Holland. 

Meanwhile the fearful tragedy of the war was 
hastening to its close, and all the dreams that had 



66 ATLANTA 

clustered about the establishment of a separate 
government to be composted of those States among 
which existed a common sjmipathy and a common 
purpose, vanished into thin air. Four years of 
superhuman struggle and sacrifice ended on April 
9th, 1865, when General Robert E. Lee, the idol 
of the South, handed his sword to General Grant 
at Appomattox. 

Under an order issued at Macon on May 3, Col. 
E. B. Eggleston, of the First Ohio Cavalry, was 
designated to receive the surrender of the Confed- 
erate troops at Atlanta. He came to this City at 
once and took command on May 4, one of his first 
official acts being to issue an order reading ''All 
persons in and about Atlanta, Ga., in possession 
of intoxicating liquors of any kind, are hereby 
prohibited from selling or giving the same to any 
soldier, whatever, under penalty of forfeiture of 
all liquors found in their possession." 

This order was reassuring, in that it indicated 
to the people that drunkness and disorder would 
not be permitted, but no act of consideration could 
have lifted the pall of gloom which overhung the 
City when it became known finally that the cause 
of the Confederacy had been irretrevibly lost. The 
sacrifices had been too great and the suffering too 
intense for ready forgetfulness. 

Atlanta now became a scene of great activity, 
but it was of a most pathetic character to the peo- 
ple of the city. Soldiers in garments of worn and 
ragged gray, came in large numbers, and the prob- 
lem of caring for them would have been acute but 
for the broad humanitarianism displayed by Col- 
onel Eggleston. The readiness with which the 



THROUGH WAR'S FURNACE 67 

needs of these war-worn men were supplied from 
the post commissary brought words of highest 
commendation from the "Daily Intelligencer," 
the publication of which had been resumed. 

The formal raising of the United States flag 
above Atlanta came at a moment unforgetable in 
the history of America. On May, 1864, President 
Lincoln, had been assassinated, and when the 
Stars and Stripes were raised in Atlanta on May 
16, in front of the headquarters of Colonel Eggles- 
ton, the banner stopped at half mast, and remain- 
ed there, rippling to the soft May breeze. Thus 
tribute was paid to the dead War President in a 
city where war had left so many cruel scars. 



CHAPTER V. 

With Faces to the Future. 

IT is typical of the spirit of Atlanta that little 
time was lost in lamenting over the losses and 
hardships of the past. With their zeal for the 

cause of the Confederacy evidenced by such 
devotion and such sacrifices as few people are 
called upon to display, they turned their faces to 
the future with a supreme purpose to push on to 
better things, however discouraging the circum- 
stanes. As they had been loyal to the Stars and 
Bars, they would be loyal to the Stars and 
Stripes. As they had wrought in war, they would 
labor in peace, confident that the years would 
crown their efforts with a goodly heritage. 

This attitude found expression on June 24, 1865, 
in a meeting held at the call of Mayor Calhoun, 
John M. Clarke, John Silvey, J. L. Dunning, J. W. 
Manning and W. R. Venable. This gathering was 
attended by many representative citizens, and fol- 
lowing formal organization with Mayor Calhoun 
as chairman, a committee on resolutions was ap- 
pointed, consisting of John M. Clarke, J. I. Whit- 
taker, A. Austell, J. L. Dunning and G. W. Adair. 
This committee reported resolutions, the pre- 
amble of which read : 

"Whereas, the Constitution of the United 
States makes ample provision for the freedom of 
speech, the power of the press, and the unalien- 
able right of the people to peacefully assemble. 



WITH FACES TO THE FUTURE 69 

and to counsel with each other on all matters of 
public concernment and national interest, and 

''Whereas, the late war has left the State of 
Georgia in a most deplorable, disorganized and 
unsettled condition, we, therefore, as a portion of 
the people, have assembled this day to express our 
anxious solicitude for a speedy restoration to our 
original status in the Union, and hopefully antic- 
ipate that the day is near at hand when the sun of 
our former prosperity and happiness will again 
shine upon us with undiminished and even increas- 
ed splendor, when each one may sit under his own 
'vine and fig tree, with none to molest him or make 
him afraid.' " 

The resolutions which followed, and which were 
adopted as expressing the views and purposes of 
those assembled, voiced a lofty sentiment, saying 
among other things : 

"That we most earnestly desire a speedy resto- 
ration of all political and national relations, the 
restoration of mutual confidence and friendship, 
the uninterrupted intercourse of trade and com- 
merce with every section ; in fine, to hold and oc- 
cupy our old position in the list of States, the sov- 
ereign and sole conservators of an unbroken and 
imperishable union. 

' ' That we counsel a ready and willing obedience 
to the laws of our country, and with cheerfulness 
and patient industry the fulfillment of our mis- 
sion." 

Profound regret was expressed concerning the 
assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and confidence 
in the administration of President Andrew John- 
son, was voted, together with an endorsement of 



70 ATLANTA 

James Johnson as provisional governor of Geor- 
gia. 

Appointment of provisional officers for Georgia 
were of a character to create confidence on the 
part of the people. John Erskine, appointed 
Judge of the United District Court, had been a cit- 
izen of Atlanta before the war. He was well known 
to the citizens of the community and enjoyed their 
confidence. James L. Dunning was made United 
States Marshal, and he, also, was warmly received 
as a former citizen of the community. A. W. Stone, 
an Atlanta man, was appointed District Attorney, 
and thus the people felt that in their officials un- 
der the new regime they had men who knew them 
and who would deal justly with them. 

Starting otf under these fair prospects, Atlan- 
tans faced the future with optimism and confi- 
dence, but as the reconstruction machinery of the 
Federal Government began its slow but implacable 
movements, numerous situations developed which 
called for the exercise of the greatest fortitude. 
Most of these troubles here, as elsewhere in the 
South, were due to the colossal and amazing blun- 
der of conferring the full rights of citizenship up- 
on a vast horde of ignorant and bewildered blacks. 

The question of negro dominance became a burn- 
ing issue throughout the South immediately the 
full enfranchisement of the former slaves had be- 
come the purpose of the Congress of the United 
States, and Atlanta was no exception. The move- 
ment "to disfranchise our intelligence and make 
the hereditary slaves of two centuries rulers of our 
political destiny," as I. W. Avery expressed it, 
was one to inflame the passions of the people to 



WITH FACES TO THE FUTURE 71 

fever heat, and a tense situation prevailed 
throughout the closing half of 1866, continuing in- 
to the new year. 

Feeling in Atlanta led, on February 28, to the 
publication of a notice calling a mass meeting for 
March 4, at the city hall, in order that the people 
might have an opportunity to express themselves. 
The call for this meeting was signed by the follow- 
ing representative citizens : Ira B. Foster, Joseph 
Winship, E. E. Hulbert, Lemual Dean, J. H. 
Flynn, A. Austell, George Hillyer, H. Sells, D. F. 
Hammond, P. L. Mynatt, Richard Peters, E. E. 
Rawson, S. P. Richards, P. P. Pease, R. P. Zim- 
merman, Clark Howell, E. P. Howell, W. F. 
Meador, J. W. Simmons, F .M. Richardson, J. R. 
Wallace, H. C. Barrow, W. A. Fuller, W. W. Butts, 
J. D. Pope, W. C. Moore, R. M. Farrar, C. A. Pitts, 
J. J. Morrison, John Sivley T. W. J. Hill, H. P. 
Farrow, J. A. Hayden, T. J. Healey, J. W. Loyd, 
J. Lemmons, E. F. Hoge, H. Muhlenbrink, L. S. 
Salmons, J. B. Campbell, J. E. Gullatt, A. A. 
Gaulding, J. A. Doane, A. K. Seago, Vines Fish, 
H. C. Hornady, J. C. Hendrix and C. C. Green. 

Many of these names will be recognized as be- 
longing to men who played a most conspicuous 
part in the building of Atlanta, and in shaping 
public thought throughout the State. 

When the hour for the meeting approached, it 
became clear that control of the gathering was go- 
ing to be difficult. A throng had assembled that 
taxed the capacity of the hall, and from snatches 
of conversation heard on all sides, it was evi- 
dent that feeling ran deep. The task of the con- 
servatives clearly was to keep the extreme ele- 



72 ATLANTA 

ment from dominating the gathering and precipi- 
tating some action that might make bad matters 
infinitely worse. The conservatives met no oppo- 
sition in electing Richard Peters as Chairman and 
W. I. Scruggs as Secretary, and when a motion 
had been adopted providing for the creation of a 
committee on resolutions, the chair named on this 
committee Colonel Farrow, Colonel J. J. Morri- 
son, T. W. J. Hill, V. A. Gaskill, E. E. Rawson, 
I. G. Mitchell, J. 0. Harris, C. P. Cassin and E. E. 
Hulbert — all men who favored a conservative 
course. This committee reported resolutions 
reading as follows: 

"Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting 
that the people of Georgia should promptly, and 
without the least hesitation, accept the plan of res- 
toration recently proposed by Congress. 

"Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting 
there are persons in each and every county within 
this State sufficient in numbers and sufficient in 
integrity and ability, who are not debarred from 
voting and holding office by the provisions of this 
law, to perform all the functions of government. 

"Resolved That we earnestly hope that as soon 
as practicable, all those who have the right to do 
so, will, in good faith, enter upon the duty of insti- 
tuting for Georgia a legal State government. 

"Resolved, That we, citizens of Fulton County, 
do hereby proclaim to our fellow citizens through- 
out the entire Union, a sincere purpose, on our 
part to heal the wounds inflicted by the unhappy 
past, and we take this method of extending to our 
fellow citizens of every state, a cordial and hearty 
invitation to come and settle in our midst, assur- 



WITH FACES TO THE FUTURE 73 

ing them in the name of everything that is sacred 
that they shall be received and treated as friends, 
and as citizens of a common country. 

''Resolved, That a copy of the proceedings of 
this meeting be forwarded to Governor Jenkins, 
and a copy to the Reconstruction Committee at 
Washington." 

These resolutions were read amid a tense sil- 
ence and at the conclusion of the reading it was 
evident from the lack of applause that the verbage 
did not suit the majority of those present. Speech- 
es in support of the resolutions were made by Col- 
onel Farrow and Mayor Calhoun, but before a 
vote was taken Colonel L. J. Glenn obtained rec- 
ognition, and thereupon offered the following : 

"Resolved, 1. That in view of the present con- 
dition of the Southern States, and the passage of 
the military bill by the House of Representatives 
over the President's veto, we think it the dutj^ of 
the people of Georgia to remain quiet, and thereby 
at least preserve their self respect, their manhood 
and their honor. 

"Resolved, 2. That in the event said bill has 
or does become a law, we trust Governor Jenkins, 
either alone or in connection with the governors 
of other Southern States, will at once take the 
necessary steps to have the constitutionality of 
the law tested before the Supreme Court of the 
United States. 

"Resolved, 3. That we hereby tender to his ex- 
cellency. President Johnson, our heartfelt thanks 
for the patriotic effort he has made to protect the 
constitution of the United States and the liberties 
of the people." 



74 ATLANTA 

The reading of these resolutions brought 
forth prolonged cheers, which left no doubt as to 
the temper of the gathering. Then, no sooner than 
the tumult had subsided, a further demonstration 
was brought about by Colonel T. C. Howard, who 
offered an amendment to the Glenn resolution, de- 
nouncing the Sherman Military Bill as ''harsh, 
cruel and unjust, as it surrenders life, liberty and 
estate to the arbitrary and despotic will of the mil- 
itary power." The bill was further described in 
this amendment as ' ' degrading to the bitterest and 
last degree, as it sinks us below the legal status 
of our former slaves, surrenders the control and 
policy of the Southern States to the blacks, and by 
our own hands stigmatizes, disfranchises and dis- 
avows the men who have periled life, fortune and 
all worldly ambitions for our sakes; that by our 
assent to the principles and provisions of said bill, 
the Southern people commit political suicide by 
arraying themselves against the President of the 
United States, who, with sublime courage, has re- 
sisted the combined energies of the enemies of the 
government and constitution, by adopting and rat- 
ifjdng outrages on our liberties that would not be 
tolerated an instant by that tribunal while a vest- 
age of that instrument remained," etc. 

The firey eloquence of Col. Howard swept the 
crowd, which was now ready for almost any ex- 
tremes, but in the end, after much confusion and 
uncertainty, a motion to adjourn was made b}^ Col- 
onel R. J. Cowart, who expressed the view that the 
people were not then prepared to pass judgment 
upon a subject so grave and so far reaching. The 
motion to adjourn carried, but inunediately Gen- 



WITH FACES TO THE FUTURE 75 

eral L. J. Gartrell leaped to his feet and called in 
clarion tones for all who favored the Glenn resolu- 
tions to remain in the hall. Most of those present 
resumed their seats, and thereupon another meet- 
ing was organized with General Gartrell as chair- 
man and J. G. Whitner as secretary. 

As soon as the second meeting had become org- 
anized for business, Colonel Morrison asked if it 
was the intention to bar those opposed to the 
Glenn resolutions, and upon being answered in the 
negative, he made a vigorous speech in opposition. 
Other speakers were heard, and then a vote was 
taken, the result being an overwhelming majority 
for the Glenn resolutions. 

Colonel Farrow, whose committee had offered 
the resolutions that went down in defeat, there- 
upon announced that an adjourned meeting would 
be held that night to further consider these resolu- 
tions, and the gathering dispersed. That night 
the Farrow resolutions were adopted, with an 
amendment calling upon the Governor to convene 
the Legislature immediately with a view of calling 
a convention to comply fully with the terms pre- 
scribed by the Sherman act. 

At the night meeting ex-Governor Brown was 
called upon, and he made an earnest plea for con- 
servative action upon the part of the people, 
pointing out the futility of resistence and the 
harm which might result were any save a con- 
structive course followed by the South. 

It was a day full of excitement, accompanied by 
no little feeling, but in the end both sides had their 
way, though it is doubtful if either side had much 
weight in determining future events ; events which 



76 ATLANTA 

were being shaped in Washington and over which 
the people of the South had little or no influence. 

The State of Georgia subsequently became a 
party to a suit before the Supreme Court of the 
United States in which it was sought to obtain an 
injunction against the operation of the Sherman 
act, but the only effect was to intensify the feel- 
ing of those who had determined to make a thor- 
ough job of discipling the South. 

Under the provisions of the Sherman Law, Ma- 
jor-General John Pope was appointed Com- 
mander of the Third Military District, compris- 
ing Alabama, Georgia and Florida, and he arriv- 
ed in Atlanta by special train from Chattanooga 
on Sunday, March 31, 1867. He was met at the 
station by a committee of local citizens and es- 
corted to the leading hotel, where a reception 
was held in his honor. It was attended by many 
prominent citizens, all of whom jwere received 
by General Pope in a most gracious manner. He 
greeted them in civilian clothes and his deport- 
ment throughout was that of one who wished to 
make himself agreeable and to remove any tens- 
ion which might exist. 

One of the first acts of the military com- 
mander was to remove the headquarters of the 
district to Milledgeville. At the same time he 
announced that all civil officers then in office in 
the three States under his jurisdiction, would re- 
tain their positions until the expiration of their 
terms, "unless otherwise directed in special 
cases." He expressed the hope that "no neces- 
sity will arise for the interposition of the mil- 
itary authorities in the civil administration," and 



WITH FACES TO THE FUTURE 77 

pointed out that such a necessity could only arise 
**from the failure of the civil tribunals to protect 
the people, without distinction in their rights of 
person and property." 

Altogether, the impression made by General 
Pope was most favorable, and there seems little 
doubt that he endeavored to discharge his diffi- 
cult duties in a way to cause the least dissatisfac- 
tion, but in the end the good feeling which char- 
acterized his advent, disappeared and a clamor 
arose for his removal. He was removed on De- 
cember 28, 1867, and Major-General George G. 
Meade was named as his successor. The change 
was received with enthusiasm by the people, but 
in the course of time General Meade became 
about as unpopular as his predecessor had 
grown. It it probable that both of these officials 
endeavored to discharge their duties with as lit- 
tle friction as possible, and the resultant dissat- 
isfaction was due, not to any desire on tlieir part 
to be harsh or extreme, but to the fact that the 
laws under which they worked were harsh and 
extreme and could not be interpreted and admin- 
istered in a manner wholly foreign to their funda- 
mental character, however well intentioned the 
administrator might be. 

The method of restoration to the Union was 
the point upon which the differences of this per- 
iod largely turned, and it was while discussion 
upon this subject was at fever heat that a flam- 
ing and dramatic figure leaped to the front. With 
a fearlessness that astonished those given to 
equivocation, and with an eloquence that was as 
a consuming fire, Benjamin H. Hill stepped into 



78 ATLANTA 

the arena and exposed the reconstruction scheme 
in all its nakedness. Speaking before a great 
convention in Atlanta, with the people hanging 
upon his every word, he urged the sacredness of 
the Constitution, denounced the Sherman act as 
violative of that great document, and continued 
**I charge before Heaven and the American peo- 
ple this day, that every evil by which we have 
been afflicted has been attributable directly to the 
violation of the constitution. Tinkers may work, 
quacks may prescribe, and demagogues may de- 
ceive, but I declare to you there is no remedy for 
us, and no hope to escape the threatened evils, 
but in adherence to the constitution." 

He then denounced in the most scathing terms 
those who would support a convention which they 
knew to be contrary to the constitution. ''I shall 
discharge the obligation of the amnistry oath," 
he said. "It required me to support the consti- 
tution and the emancipation of the negro, and I 
do, but I will not bind myself to a new slavery — 
to hell — ^by violating it." 

Many others of prominence and influence 
adopted a like attitude toward the approaching 
State Convention, holding that it was called in 
defiance of the fundamental law of the land and 
that to participate in it was to trample under 
foot the one document under which liberty was 
guaranteed unto the people. Robert Toombs, 
former Governor Herschel V. Johnson and others 
were of like mind. The latter advised regis- 
tration on the part of the people, but noncompli- 
ance with the terms imposed. He warned them 
** never to embrace their despotism," but to hope 



WITH FACES TO THE FUTURE 79 

for a reaction in the North and West against ' ' the 
overthrow of constitutional liberty." 

The convention at which these brilliant orators 
poured out the vials of their wrath before a vast 
and embittered audience, was held in an immense 
arbor erected on Alabama Street, July 23, 1868. 
The day was fearfully hot, and the multitude com- 
posing the audience occupied hard wooden 
benches, but for five hours they listened eagerly 
to the words of such men as Robert Toombs, Ben- 
jamine Hill, Ralph J. Moses and Howell Cobb, 
their passionate sentences, as they described the 
evils of the reconstruction program, being greet- 
ed with storms of applause. 

Governor Jenkins, who was active in the pros- 
ecution of the injunction proceedings in the 
United States Supreme Court, was also out- 
spoken in his denunciation of the illegality of the 
methods proposed under the military acts; so 
much so that it brought on a sharp exchange of 
letters between General Pope and himself. These 
differences continued under the new military 
commander, General Meade, culminating finally 
in the removal of Governor Jennings from office 
and the appointment of Brigadier-General Thom- 
as H. Ruger, to this position. This action was 
taken by General Meade on January 13, 1868, and 
the immediate cause was the refusal of Governor 
Jennings to authorize the payment of a bill, 
amounting to some forty thousand dollars, which 
money was to pay the cost of holding the state 
convention; a gathering which the governor held 
was unconstitutional. The State Treasurer, John 
Jones, was removed at the same time for the same 



80 ATLANTA 

cause, and he was succeeded by Captain Charles 
F. Eockwell, also of the United States army. 

The order for the State Convention, about 
which so much bitter controversy raged, was is- 
sued by General Pope on November 19, 1867. It 
was to be held in Macon on December 5, 1867, and 
was for the purpose of framing a constitution for 
the civil government of the State of Georgia. 

When this convention met there were tw^enty- 
two negroes among the delegates, and one of 
these was made a door-keeper while another was 
designated for the duties of messenger. Thus 
for the first time the black man made his appear- 
ance in a gathering of this character in the State 
of Georgia. 

While the convention was in session and 
shortly after he had appeared before the body and 
delivered an address, General Pope was removed 
from office, and a few days thereafter his succes- 
sor. General Meade arrived in Atlanta. He was 
met here by an enthusiastic citizenship, and was 
presented with a set of resolutions shrewdly de- 
signed to flatter him, and at the same time, afford 
the populace an opportunity to flay his predeces- 
sor. These resolutions were adopted at a mass 
meeting held at the City Hall in Atlanta on the 
night of January 4, and were presented to Gen- 
eral Pope upon his arrival two days later. 

In the preamble to this remarkable set of reso- 
lutions, the facts surrounding the attempt of Gen- 
eral Pope to force the payment of the $40,000 
heretofore referred to, were set forth, while the 
convention itself was denounced as ''conceived 
in fraud and brought forth in iniquity." It was 




FULTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE 



WITH FACES TO THE FUTURE 81 

also charged that the retiring general had been 
' ' surrounded while in this city by evil counsellors 
in civil life to whom he lent a listening ear, and 
whose thirst for office influenced them to coun- 
sel to further oppression and degradation of our 
people, in order that they might fatten on the 
spoils thereof." 

The first part of these resolutions, which so 
seethed with the popular feeling of the hour, went 
on most ingeniously, ^' While this meeting is un- 
alterably opposed to the military acts of Cong- 
ress, under which it proposed to 'reconstruct' the 
Southern States, and while it disclaims any wish 
(were it possible) to influence the action of Maj- 
or-General George G. Meade, politically or other- 
wise, yet it can but express its gratitude that our 
people shall have in him, as military commander 
of this district, a gentleman and a soldier, who, 
we have reason to believe, will uphold and not 
destroy the civil government of the State; who 
will uphold and not trample under foot the civil 
laws he may find in force, and who will restore 
those set aside by his predecessor ; who will guar- 
antee freedom from fraud and corruption in reg- 
istrars, managers and voters, in any future elec- 
tions or registrations that may be had under said 
military acts ; and who will tolerate, in its fullest 
extent, freedom of speech and of the press in the 
discussion of the great questions affecting the 
present and future welfare of the people of Geor- 
gia." 

The resolutions concluded "Entertaining these 
views with reference to General Meade and to the 
course he will pursue in the administration of his 



82 ATLANTA 

office, we welcome him to our City, and trust he 
will continue his headquarters in Atlanta, as 
Commander of The Third Military District." 

A committee of seven was appointed to present 
the document to the military commander and to 
forward a copy to the President of the United 
States. The committee, in waiting upon General 
Meade, was cordiallj'' received, and if he saw in 
the resolutions any effort to shape his conduct, he 
did not betray the fact. Indeed, he was quite as 
cordial as his predecessors had been on a similar 
occasion, and made quite as favorable impres- 
sion. That he was not greatly moved, however, 
was demonstrated exactly four days later when 
he threw Governor Jenkins out of office for de- 
clining to put his 0. K. on that much discussed 
bill for $40,000! 

The Constitution Convention, which had been 
the subject of so much bitterness, completed its 
labors March 11, 1868, and the new constitution 
was ratified in an election held April 20, 21 and 
22. Fulton County, of which Atlanta is the heart, 
voted for ratification by the narrow majority of 
210 out of a total vote of 4,248, but gave an em- 
phatic majority for John B. Gordon for Gov- 
ernor, in opposition to R. B. Bullock. The latter 
was nominated by the delegates to the constitu- 
tional convention, who had resolved themselves 
into a nominating convention for this purpose, 
and he was elected by the vote of the people in 
the State at large. In Fulton County he received 
1,914 votes, while General Gordon received 2,357. 
The vote for these two candidates showed about 
the relative strength of the white and colored vot- 



WITH FACES TO THE FUTURE 83 

ers in Fulton County, the whites being in the ma- 
jority. However, this condition did not obtain 
universally, the negro voters greatly outnumber- 
ing the whites in some quarters. 

Called together under a proclamation issued by 
Governor-elect Bullock on June 25, 1868, the Leg- 
islature of Georgia convened in Atlanta on the 
Fourth of July, and had become organized to the 
satisfaction of General Meade, Military Com- 
mander, by July 21. Immediately thereafter a 
resolution was offered ratifying the Fourteenth 
Amendment to the United States Constitution 
and it was passed by the following vote : House 
89 for and 69 against: Senate, 28 for and 14 
against. 

Governor Bullock was formerly inaugurated 
on the day following and served until his acts of 
incompetence and alleged venality created such a 
crisis that he fled the State, soon thereafter to be- 
come the subject of a warrant, charging larceny 
in connection with certain bond transactions. 

This session of the Legislature furnished one 
of the most sensational and amazing incidents in 
the entire history of the Commonwealth, when a 
Republican was elected to the United States Sen- 
ate over Joseph E. Brown, former Democratic 
Governor of Georgia, the end being accomplished 
by Democratic votes. Another extraordinary 
phase of the picture was the delirious joy the re- 
sult occasioned in Atlanta and throughout the en- 
tire State. 

The candidates whose names were ballotted up- 
on were Joseph E. Brown, Alexander H. Steph- 
ens, Joshua Hill and C. H. Hopkins. On the first 



84 ATLANTA 

ballot Former Governor Brown received 102 
votes, Alexander H. Stephens 96, Joshua Hill 13 
and C. H. Hopkins 1. Fearing that Brown might 
win on the next ballot and determined to beat 
him at any cost, the Democratic members, who 
had been supporting Stephens, flocked solidly to 
the support of Hill, the Eepublican, and on the 
second ballot Hill received 110, Brown 94, Stev- 
ens 1 and C. W. Stiles 1. Hill, Republican was 
elected. 

Excitement over this contest was intense, 
and when the news went forth that Former Gov- 
ernor Brown had been defeated, an immense 
crowd gathered in front of the United States Ho- 
tel, where a remarkable demonstration of enthu- 
siasm was witnessed. 

On the same day, H. V. M. Miller was elected 
to the Senate, defeating Foster Bloodgett, a very 
unpopular representative of the Republican 
party, and this added to the cup of joy. 

The reason for this attitude of bitterness to- 
ward former Governor Brown was his alleged 
*' desertion of the South and the Democratic 
party" during the fervid days of Reconstruction, 
and even now, after the passing of more than a 
half century, one still may find among older cit- 
izens some evidence of this feeling. Indeed, in 
all the history of Georgia it is doubtful if another 
man has been more genuinely hated by his en- 
emies — or more loyally supported by his friends 
— than was Governor Brown. The former de- 
nounced him with all the heat of an unusually 
torrid period ; the latter credited him with greater 
vision than is given to most men and with the 



WITH FACES TO THE FUTURE 85 

courage to stand for the things he deemed right, 
despite consequences to himself. Upon his death 
in November, 1894, his body lay in state at the 
Capitol for twenty-four hours, viewed by hun- 
dreds, and impressive ceremonies were held in 
the Senate Chamber. 

The Legislature of 1868 did another thing that 
created great excitement and which brought addi- 
tional troubles to the State, when it threw out 
twenty-seven negro members, including two sen- 
ators. This action was participated in by a num- 
ber of Republican members, as well as by the 
Democrats, and it met with popular approval, but 
one may well imagine its effect upon the extrem- 
ists in Congress who were writing prescriptions 
for the conduct of Southern States. Thaddius 
Stevens was dead, but Charles Sumner was much 
alive, and he took immediate steps to have the 
State of Georgia punished. The result was 
another ''reconstruction" for Georgia, in the pro- 
cess of which thirty-one negroes were admitted 
to seats in the Legislature and twenty-four Demo- 
crats were thrown out. 

Governor Bullock went to Washington himself, 
and directed personally the fight for the legisla- 
tion which finally was adopted. The act finally 
passed by Congress required members of the 
Legislature to take an oath that they had not 
participated in rebellion after holding office; pro- 
hibited the exclusion of members by reason of 
race or color, and required the ratification of the 
Fifteenth Amendment before the representatives 
of the State of Georgia would be seated by Con- 
srress. 



86 ATLANTA 

The Legislature was called together on January 
10, 1870, and other unique chapters in reconstruc- 
tion history were written. An attempt was made 
to elect three United States Senators at this one 
session, the body actually undertaking to select one 
senator whose election was due to come before 
the next Legislature. The men elected to the 
Senate were R. H. Whatley, H. P. Farrow and 
Foster Bloodgett — all of whom were denied seats 
when they appeared in Washington, though Gov- 
ernor Bullock once more went to that City and at- 
tempted to have his amazing legislative manu- 
vers approved by Congress. However, his indif- 
ference to constitutional requirements had been 
observed in Washington and this time he met de- 
feat at every turn. Congress condemned the pro- 
ceedings of the Legislature, and passed an amend- 
ment forbidding the extension of terms of office 
— the last being a bitter disappointment to Bul- 
lock. 

But even in the face of these reversals, Bul- 
lock did not surrender, but straightway set about 
trying to so fix matters that he could dominate 
the approaching election. His star was waning, 
however, and he failed in this also. The election 
was held; the Democrats swept the State, and 
from that day to this have remained in control 
of public affairs. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Incidents of Long Ago 

MANY other spectacular and thrilling 
events transpired in Atlanta during the 
years intervening between the close of 
the war and the final restoration of the 
government to the people of the State. This City 
"became the political center of the commonwealth 
and the pivot around which turned events of an 
absorbing character. 

Seeing no reason why the State Government 
should not function, especially in the light of the 
fact that action was needed as never before in 
the history of the State, Governor Brown called 
the Legislature to meet on May 22, 1865, and 
immediately thereafter he was placed under ar- 
rest by order of General Wilson, Avho also issued 
an order forbidding the Legislature to assemble. 
Governor Brown was carried to Washington, 
where he was placed in prison, but he obtained 
an audience with President Johnson and was re- 
leased after the passage of some ten days. Re- 
turning to Georgia, he was denied the right to 
exercise the duties of Governor — James Johnson, 
of Chambers, having been appointed Provisional 
Governor on June 17 — and on June 29, 1865, 
Governor Brown resigned. 

At the time of the arrest of Governor Brown, 
Alexander H. Stephens, General Howell Cobb and 
B. H. Hill were also taken into custody. The 
arrest of these conspicuous figures in the public 



88 ATLANTA 

life of the State created a great sensation, and 
added fuel to the flames of passion burning 
throughout the length and breadth of the Com- 
monwealth. 

As throwing light upon the mental attitude of 
the newly liberated negroes, it is interesting to 
note that one of the early acts of Provisional 
Governor Johnson was to issue a proclamation 
in which was set at rest the expectation that pri- 
vate propert}^ would be parceled out. Many ne- 
groes were under the impression that the land 
of the white people was to be divided among them, 
this being the outgrowth of a report that came 
from some source during the war that each negro 
would get ''forty acres and a mule" when the 
South was subdued. 

Provisional Governor Johnson called a State 
Convention for October 25, and when this body 
assembled, he delivered a message that created 
widespread controversy because of a recommen- 
dation that the war debts of the State be repu- 
diated. These debts amounted to $18,135,775, 
whereas the debt of the State for other purposes 
was only $2,678,760. A violent protest against 
repudiation arose and the act was passed only 
iifter notice had been received from President 
Johnson and Secretary Seward that repudiation 
was necessary to readmission to the Union. In 
addition to repudiating this debt, the Convention 
formally abolished slavery and adopted a new 
constitution. 

The legislative session beginning January 5, 
1866, developed incidents of widespread interest. 
Among other things, this body elected Alexander 



INCIDENTS OF LONG AGO 89 

H. Stephens and Herschell V. Johnson to the 
United States Senate, but they were never seated. 
By now the fierce conflict between President John- 
son and the Congress of the United States was 
on, with Thaddius Stevens leading the fight for 
making the conditions as onorons as possible. 
Southern representatives were denied admission, 
and the whole matter went to the Keconstruction 
Committee, of which Stevens was Chairman, and 
before which he had his way. He also won in 
Congress, when the fight was renewed and when 
the vetoes of the President, which precipitated 
the agitation for his impeachment, were overrid- 
den. 

The extraordinary condition brought about by 
the disfranchisement of many prominent citizens, 
was illustrated in striking fashion when the Dem- 
ocrats, in 1868, undertook to place a candidate in 
the field for Governor. Meeting in Atlanta on 
March 13, the State Democratic Executive Com- 
mittee placed Judge August Keese in nomination 
for Governor. On the 24th of the same month 
Judge David Irwin announced his candidacy for 
this position, and thereupon Judge Keese with- 
drew, saying that he had found himself ineligible 
to hold the office. The party then got behind 
Judge Irwin, but presently the Republicans 
pointed out that Judge Irwin was ineligible by 
reason of the fact that he had been a Confederate 
presidential elector. This point was sustained 
by the Military Commander, and the Democrats 
were left without a standard bearer. In this 
emergency they went to General Meade, Military 
Commander, to find out who among Democrats 



90 ATLANTA 

was qualified to hold the office. General Meade 
thought the situation over and then announced 
that General John B. Gordon was eligible. There- 
upon this great soldier and highly popular leader 
was given the nomination, going down to defeat, 
however, in the chaotic state that existed at that 
time — thousands of white men disqualified and 
thousands of negroes having the ballot. 

One of the greatest sensations of the period 
was furnished by Governor Rufus B. Bullock, 
who succeeded Governor Jenkins after the brief 
reign of Thomas Euger, the military appointee. 
Under his administration, which was character- 
ized by great bitterness. State bond issues were 
handled with a disregard for the properties that 
was amazing, and charges of corruption and in- 
efficiency mounted until they reached such pro- 
portions that drastic action appeared inevitable. 
His administration became a national scandal, 
attracting the notice of newspapers in New York 
and elsewhere, and finally the storm of public dis- 
approval became so threatening that, on October 
23, 1871, he secretly resigned and fled from the 
State. 

A warrant for the arrest of the fugitive ex- 
Governor was issued early in 1872, it being 
charged that he was guilty of the larceny of cer- 
tain bonds, but it was not until 1876 that he was 
arrested. The Governor of New York, to which 
state he fled, refused to grant a requisition, and 
when the accused was finally brought back and 
placed on trial, five years after his flight, acquit- 
tal resulted, it being impossible to connect him 
directly with the transaction involving the bonds. 



INCIDENTS OF LONG AGO 91 

In January, 1872, a scene of rejoicing such as 
Atlanta had not witnessed in years, attended the 
inauguration of James M. Smith as Governor. 
Coincident with his election, the Democrats of the 
State had come into complete control of the legis- 
lative machinery for the first time since the war, 
and the rule of a free people was restored. Car- 
pet-bagism, with all its attendant terrors and in- 
timidations, was at an end. 

A stirring event of this year was the meeting 
of the Democratic State Convention in Atlanta on 
June 26, which was characterized by a sensational 
fight over the impending nomination of Horace 
Greely for President, in opposition to the regular 
Republican candidate. Greely w^as then the nom- 
inee of the Liberal Republicans and had been 
endorsed by the Democrats of the North, who 
saw the futility of attempting to carry the coun- 
try with a candidate of their o^m in the face 
of the popular feeling in the North which had 
grown out of the war. The Atlanta convention, 
after a spirited contest, declined to endorse 
Greely or to oppose him, preferring to send an 
untrammeled delegation to the Democratic Con- 
vention, which soon was to meet at Baltimore. 
However, when the Baltimiore Convention form- 
ally endorsed Greely, another meeting was held 
in Atlanta, July 24, and the convention endorsed 
the nominee and pledged its support to the ticket. 
In the national election which followed, Greely 
carried the State. 

Another convention held in Atlanta that ex- 
cited widespread interest, was in 1873, when Gen- 
eral John B. Gordon was elected to the United 



92 ATLANTA 

States Senate after a spectacular and sensational 
fight, in which the honor came very near going 
to the eloquent and popular Alexander H. Steph- 
ens. The candidates were General Gordon, 
Alexander H. Stephens, B. H. Hill, Herbert Fol- 
der and A. T. Akerman, but the struggle narrowed 
down to the two first named, and in the end Gen- 
eral Gordon won. 

The popularity of Stephens was attested im- 
mediately thereafter by his election to Congress, 
where he was returned after an absence of thir- 
teen years, during a portion of which interval he 
occupied the high office of Vice-President of the 
Confederate States of America. 

Senator Gordon inadvertently added fuel to a 
flaming state fight by resigning his seat in the 
Senate in May, 1880. At that time Governor 
Alfred H. Colquitt was a candidate for re-election, 
his campaign being managed by the famous 
Henry Grady, and it was one of the bitterest 
fights Georgia had ever known. The State Con- 
vention, which had met in Atlanta on August 4, 
was unprecedented in that it failed to make a 
nomination after a prolonged and fiercely bitter 
struggle. Governor Colquitt's forces were in the 
majority by a wide margin and might have in- 
sisted upon majority rule, which had prevailed 
in previous conventions, but they accepted the 
two-thirds rule, and fought for days to bring 
about the nomination of their man. At one time 
they came within nine votes of winning, but the 
opposition was implacable, and in the end the 
body adjourned after passing a resolution 



INCIDENTS OF LONG AGO 93 

''recommending" Governor Colquitt to the Dem- 
ocrats of the State. 

The element which had waged this fierce and 
uncompromizing fight npon Governor Colquitt, 
put Thomas M. Norwood in the field for governor, 
and the struggle raged with unprecidented fury. 
The most sensational charges were brought 
against the Governor, and when Senator Gordon 
resigned and former Governor Brown was ap- 
pointed in his place, the cry of "trade" was 
raised by the opposition, and the struggle became 
more embittered. This development threw three 
powerful figures side hj side in the struggle — 
Colquitt, Gordon and Bro"v\Ti, and the result was 
a landslide for Colquitt. 

The Colquitt campaign, which Grady conducted 
with such conspicuous success, assisted by Evan 
P. Howell and other distinguished leaders, re- 
sulted in the choice of a Legislature which elected 
Joseph E. Brown to the United States Senate — 
the post to which he had been appointed by Gov- 
ernor Colquitt. 

By this time, 1880, the population of Atlanta 
was approaching 40,000 and the City was pulsing 
with life and energy. Its fame had grown until 
it was recognized as one of the coming cities of 
America, and the tide which carried it to the 
greatness of today was running strong. It is a 
far cry from that stirring and progressive period 
to 1849, but it is worth while to turn back for a 
little while and consider some of the intervening 
events. 

Communication between Atlanta and the out- 
side world, which is now carried on with so much 



94 ATLANTA 

ease by means of telegraph and telephone sys- 
tems and numerous radio stations, was limited 
to the United States mails until the Spring of 
1849, when the Macon and Western Branch Tel- 
egraph Company brought a line into the City from 
Macon. The telegraph office, with its single wire 
and one instrument, was located in a building at 
the corner of Pryor and Alabama Streets, the 
operator being C. E. Hanleiter. 

The coming of the telegraph was an incident of 
widespread interest and the instrument, being of 
that type which printed the message upon a long 
ribbon of paper, was an object of much curiosity. 
The first commercial message to pass over this 
wire was sent by Dr. E. K. Kane, a celebrated 
artic explorer of that period, who was passing 
through Atlanta about the time the office opened. 
The message went to his father at Philadelphia 
and related to the purchase of materials for an 
expedition for which he was then preparing. 

Later, in 1850, another telegraph operator was 
sent to Atlanta in the person of Col. N. D. Sloan, 
and in a speech made at a banquet given to the 
old settlers at the National Hotel in 1884, he told 
some interesting experiences connected with those 
early days. Among other famous men who vis- 
ited the iittle telegraph office was Col. Sam Hous- 
ton, of Texas, then a member of Congress. He 
had never seen a telegraph instrument before and 
was greatly interested in it. Another famous 
visitor was the Hungarian patriot, General Kos- 
suth, who passed through Atlanta enroute to Sa- 
vannah with a large body of followers. He sent 
a telegram here and displayed considerable indig- 



INCIDENTS OF LONG AGO 95 

nation when asked to pay for it, but finally did so. 

On another occasion, a group of young fellows 
encountered a farmer who had come to town for 
the purpose of sending a negro to Macon. They 
told him that it would be much cheaper to send the 
darky by telegraph, and so the farmer, the negro 
and the practical jokers all repaired to the office. 
Here the farmer and the negro were lined up and 
told to hold to a wire which connected with the 
battery, and both did an impromptu dance as 
they felt the force of the current. When the 
farmer found that he was the victim of a joke, 
he was furious and Col. Sloan had to vacate the 
office for a time in order to avoid a personal diffi- 
culty. 

Practical jokes of this character were common 
enough in those rollicking days, and one which 
attracted no little attention was perpetrated when 
a group of boys one night took the bell from the 
Methodist Church and dropped it into the well 
at the home of the Baptist minister. 

Illuslrating the tendency of the youth of this 
period toward mischief, a writer in the Pioneers ' 
History of Atlanta, said: 

"It was not an easy job to police Atlanta in 
those days, for the old inhabitants will agree that 
there never was a town of like size that had as 
many wild and mischievous boys in it. One little 
harmless amusement that the boys about town 
were wont to indulge in at that time, consisted 
in rolling a hogs-head full of hogs down the Ala- 
bama Street hill. They would get a big sugar 
hogshead and, putting four or five 'grunters' se- 
curely inside, start it rolling at the top of the Ala- 



96 ATLANTA 

baiiia Street hill, where Whitehall now crosses. 
The hogshead would roll until it hit the big em- 
bankment on which the calaboose stood, and the 
racket made by the imprisoned porkers would 
bring everybody in the village running to the place 
of the terrific noise. This was one of the mild 
jokes the town marshal of those days had to put 
up with." 

Many curious and interesting events occurred 
in those old days, as one may learn by browsing 
among ancient tomes and musty newspaper files. 
For instance, it is recorded that in 1859 Jefferson 
Davis, then a member of the United States Sen- 
ate, was arrested in this City. He was passing 
through, and when the train stopped at the* 'shed'* 
he got off and was taking a bit of exercise by 
the side of the track, when two local officers 
walked up to him and told him he was under ar- 
rest. 

Accosted thus. Senator Davis told the officers 
that they were mistaken in their man, but nothing 
he said had any weight with them, and he was 
only saved from going to jail by an earnest re- 
quest to be carried before Mayor James M. Cal- 
houn, whom he knew well. When the mayor saw 
this old friend and distinguished citizen under ar- 
rest he was filled with indignation and mortifica- 
tion, and he read the officers a severe lecture. The 
latter, who were on the lookout for a train rob- 
ber and who had thought that they had captured 
the fugitive, were profuse in their apoligies, and 
the incident ended there. At a later period, when 
he had become President of the Confederate States 
of America, the citizens of Atlanta had an oppor- 





UPPER— PIEDMONT DRIVING CLUB 
LOWER— HABERSHAM HALL, D. A. R. 



INCIDENTS OF LONG AGO 97 

tunity to honor Mr. Davis and his visit on this 
occasion was noted for its fervent enthusiasm. 
Again, when in 1893, the body of Jefferson Davis 
passed through Atlanta enroute to Richmond, 
where it was consigned to the earth, the people 
of this City assembled in great numbers to pay 
tribute to the fallen leader. 

In the early fifties, President Fillmore, who 
had succeeded President Taylor upon the death 
of the latter, visited Atlanta and the event was 
celebrated in notable fashion, though a tragedy 
which marked the occasion added a sombre touch. 
A feature of the celebration was to be a flag 
raising, and in anticipation of this event two tall 
trees had been felled and a very high pole had 
been erected by fastening the two trees together. 
When it was sought to raise the flag, the ropes 
became entangled, and the ceremony was halted, 
much to the embarrassment of the committee and 
the assembled citizens. 

The committee promptly offered a reward of 
$100 to any person who would climb the pole 
and untangle the rope, and thereupon a stranger 
who said that he had been a sailor, came forward 
and volunteered. He climbed to the point where 
the ropes had become entangled, and cutting one 
of the ropes with his knife, was instantly killed 
by falling to the earth. He evidently was holding 
to the rope that he cut. Investigation showed 
that he had left a family, and when this fact was 
made known to the crowd, a fund of $2,000 was 
raised and presented to the widow. 

''Whig" sentiment was strong in the commun- 
ity at this time, and there had been great re- 



98 ATLANTA 

joicing over the election of the ''Whig" ticket. 
Prior to this election, one of the greatest political 
meetings ever witnessed in Georgia was held at 
Walton Spring, the crowd being estimated at ten 
thousand. This was in 1848, and one of the strik- 
ing features was a highly emotional demonstra- 
tion upon the appearance of Alexander H. 
Stephens, destined to become the Vice-President 
of the Confederate States of America. 

Mr. Stephens was on the program as one of 
the speakers, but a few days before the meeting, 
while upon the veranda of the then famous "At- 
lanta Hotel," he was attacked by Judge Francis 
H. Cone, who was armed both with a cane and a 
knife. Mr. Stephens was stabbed several times 
before his assailant was overpowered, and while 
the wounds were not serious, they were severe 
enough to incapacitate him for some days. 

Confined to his room at the hotel, Mr. Steph- 
ens did not intend to appear at the meeting, but 
when that vast throng had assembled, a large 
crowd of his admirers came to the hotel with a 
buggy and carried him to Walton Spring. No 
horses were used, the vehicle being drawn through 
the streets by the cheering crowd of enthusiasts. 
When the time came for him to speak, Mr. Steph- 
ens was unable to do so, but his valient friends 
lifted him up so that the great company could 
see him, and thereupon was witnessed such a 
demonstration as this community had never be- 
fore beheld. 

Following the election of Taylor and Fill- 
more as President and Vice-President of the 
United States, there was another tremendous 



INCIDENTS OF LONG AGO 99 

demonstration in Atlanta, the central fea- 
ture of which was a torch-light parade. The 
marchers, representing communities scattered 
for many miles about Atlanta, carried burning 
pine faggots, and the enthusiasm was unparal- 
leled. Years later one who witnessed this demon- 
stration said ''Atlanta never saw another that 
approached it until the great torch-light parade 
held in honor of Grover Cleveland when, as Pres- 
ident, he visited the City in 1887." 

These early days developed in Atlanta an in- 
vention of a crude sort that was the forerunner 
of others that, years later, attracted world-wide 
attention. This was a rotary wheel, grandfather 
of the Ferris Wheel, and was the invention of 
a local Frenchman, Antonio Marquino, by name. 
He operated a refreshment stand near Walton 
Spring, which at that time constituted the amuse- 
ment resort of Atlanta, and in order to attract 
more trade and, at the same time, turn a little 
profit on the side, he erected a giant wheel, about 
forty feet in diameter, and attached thereto a 
number of boxes in which were board seats for 
the passengers to ride upon. It operated exactly 
as the now familiar Ferris wheels operate, and 
attracted much attention at the time. The only 
difficulty was that, because it was made of wood 
and crudely constructed, wet weather caused the 
bearings to swell and made it difficult, and some- 
times impossible to operate. Motive power was 
supplied by two darkies. 

A\Tiile Walton Spring was the chief ''resort" 
of Atlanta, the favorite "breathing spot" was 
located in the very heart of town — a little park 



100 ATLANTA 

that was bounded by Pryor, Decatur and Loyd 
Streets and the Western & Atlantic Railroad. This 
square was the property of the Western & At- 
lantic Railroad Company, having been deeded 
to the Company by Samuel Mitchell for rail- 
road purposes. In 1858 the City obtained 
from the Company an agreement for its use as a 
park, and it was made a place of real beauty. 
Atlantans enjoyed its restful shade and its pleas- 
ing flowers and foliage until the City reached that 
stage when it was being beseiged by the Federal 
forces. As the number of wounded defenders 
increased and overflowed the emergency hospitals 
this park was converted into an open-air hos- 
pital, and then such scenes were witnessed as 
made sore the hearts of all observers. 

Men maimed by shot and shell were hurried to 
this open space, where many tables had been 
erected, and here busy surgeons carried on their 
work amid the groans of the suffering. When 
this frightful tragedy was succeeded by the trag- 
edy of Atlanta's destruction, the park was prac- 
tically obliterated by the force of the Sherman 
war machine, and it was never restored. The 
property had been given to the State road by 
Samuel Mitchell for railroad purposes, but that 
portion of it which was used as a park not being 
required for the purposes set forth in the deed of 
transfer, his heirs made a prolonged fight for its 
recovery. This fight culminated in the passage 
of an act by the Legislature under which the land 
was restored to the heirs upon payment of $35,- 
000. The land was then sold at public auction 
and soon thereafter began to be covered with bus- 



INCIDENTS OF LONG AGO 101 

iness structures. Thus passed Atlanta's first 
and only down town park. 



ENTRANCE LOWRY NATIONAL, 
BANK 



CHAPTER Vil. 

Events Move Swiftly 

THE inherient strength and vitality of At- 
lanta was never more clearly demon- 
strated than in those days immediately 
following the w^ar. Its people driven into 
exile, and the City destroyed in the Fall of 1864, 
the City is found two years later a veritable hive 
of industry. This year, 1866, the total income 
of the City government reached $294,641.03, an 
amazing sum even when the proceeds of a bond 
sale, aggregating $130,062.50, and a loan of $46,- 
000, are deducted. Receipts from licenses alone 
amounted to $23,311.80, while tax receipts 
mounted to $41,910.17. 

Stores of every kind had sprung into existence ; 
the market of the wholesale and retail merchants 
had been extended in every direction, building had 
gone forward upon an unprecedented scale, and 
sundry places of amusement and entertainment 
had come into being. Moreover, the prosperity 
which had attended certain manufacturing enter- 
prises prior to the war, led to the establishment 
of kindred undertakings. A rolling mill company 
was organized with a capital stock of $200,000, 
and began operations. A large machine shop, 
destroyed during the war, was rehabilitated and 
again put in commission, and numerous lesser en- 
terprises were revived and set going under the 
most favorable circumstances. 



EVENTS MOVE SWIFTLY 103 

Several new banks had opened for business: 
The Bank of Fulton, with capital stock of $300,- 
000; the Lowery Banking Company, with author- 
ized capital stock of $600,000, while a branch in- 
stitution of the Georgia Railroad & Banking 
Company had been opened. Brown & Wildman 
also had opened a private bank. 

Georgians who had turned their attention from 
warfare to agriculture, found Atlanta a conven- 
ient market, and products of every kind poured 
into the City, finding here ample transportation 
facilities for reaching points in the country at 
large. 

It was thus that Atlanta leaped to the task of 
rehabilitation, and thus that the foundations of 
the magnificent metropolis of the present were 
laid. Marvels in constructive achievement were 
performed during the first twelve months after 
the close of the war, and marvels of a like charac- 
ter have been performed throughout the years 
that have intervened. 

The South had leaned almost wholly upon agri- 
culture, and what was known as ' ' industrial back- 
wardness" prevailed almost universally; not only 
before, but for many years after the war. Now, 
in Atlanta, was introduced progressiveness, in- 
dustrial and commercial, of the highest order. 
The effect of this spirit in the awakening of the 
South to its opportunities and privileges, no man 
can measure. Yet it is obvious that the influence 
was most potent. 

Refer to this ''industrial backwardness" in 
Atlanta, and some one is almost sure to ask if 
you have ever read Henry Grady's "A Georgia 



104 ATLANTA 

Funeral," and if you reply in the negative, the 
chances are that he will produce a copy (it hav- 
ing been printed many, many times,) and read it 
to you, as follows: 

"It was a 'one-gallus' fellow, whose breeches 
struck him under the arm-pits and hit him at the 
other end about the knee. He didn't believe in 
decollete clothes. They buried him in the midst 
of a marble quarry; they cut through solid mar- 
ble to make his grave; and yet a little tombstone 
they put above him was from Vermont. They 
buried him in the heart of a pine forest, and yet 
the pine coffin was imported from Cincinnati. 
They buried him within touch of an iron mine, 
yet the nails in his coffin and the iron in the 
shovel that dug his grave were imported from 
Pittsburgh. They buried him by the side of the 
best sheep-grazing country on earth, yet the wool 
in the coffin bands themselves were brought from 
the North. 

"The South didn't furnish a thing on earth 
for that funeral but the corpse and the hole in 
the ground. And they put him away and the 
clods rattled down on the coffin. And they buried 
him in a New York coat and a Boston pair of 
shoes and a pair of breeches from Chicago and 
a shirt from Cincinnati, leaving him nothing to 
carry into the next world with him to remind him 
of the country in which he lived, and for which 
he fought for four years, but the chilled blood 
in his veins and the marrow in his bones." 

By precept and by example, and by the occas- 
ional use of such satire as that embodied in "A 
Georgia Funeral," Atlanta led the vanguard of 



EVENTS MOVE SWIFTLY lO.') 

revival in the South, and still is a potent influence 
in the vast and widespread movement for a more 
generous development of Southern resources. 

The people of Atlanta were surrounded in 1866 
by abundant evidence of the destructive nature 
of fire, and this, coupled with the fact that the 
community was growing at an astonishing rate, 
served to arouse eager interest in the subject of 
an adequate water supply. Cisterns and wells 
were numerous, but they were insufficient to meet 
the needs of a rapidly growing community, with 
its expanding industrial life, and in less than 
eighteen months after the destruction of the City, 
a company was incorporated for the purpose of 
providing a waterworks system for Atlanta the 
proposed expenditure being $100,000. 

The plans of this pioneer organization, known 
as the Atlanta Canal & Waterworks Company, 
did not reach fruition, but the agitation Ix^gun at 
that time was continued until, in 1875, the City fin- 
ally was provided w^ith what for that period Avas a 
modern water Avorks system. The plans of the 
incorporators of the early company Avas to bring 
the AA^aters of the Chattahoochee Eiver to Atlanta 
by means of a canal. This company failing in 
its mission, another Avas organized in March, 
1869, Avith capital stock of $100,000, with the priv- 
ilege of increasing it to $1,000,000, and a plan was 
worked out by this concern, the Atlanta Canal & 
Water Company, to bring the waters of Peach- 
tree Creek to the City. But its plans also went 
awry. 

The failure of private capital to provide Avater, 
led finally to the establishment of a municipally 



106 ATLANTA 

owned plant — a fortunate circumstance, as the 
people learned later. Anthony Murphy, who 
while chairman of the city council committee on 
pumps, wells and cisterns in 1866, began the agi- 
tation for a water works system, was still a mem- 
ber of the board in 1870, and was still urging the 
necessity of action. As a result of his persistent 
activities, the Legislature of that year passed an 
act authorizing the City of Atlanta to provide a 
water works system and creating a water commis- 
sion to have direction of the enterprise. 

Whien it was sought to comply with the provis- 
ions of this act, and to issue bonds for the instal- 
lation of the system, litigation arose and the con- 
stitutionality of the law had to be fought out in 
the courts. This occasioned considerable delay 
but the work was completed in 1875 at a cost of 
$226,000. The water was brought from South 
River into an impounding reservoir, whence it 
was conveyed to the City by means of a pump 
having a capacity of 2,000,000 gallons. A filtera- 
tion plant was installed at the beginning and At- 
lanta never had the experience of drinking muddy 
and impure water, as was the experience of so 
many communities in the days of pioneer develop- 
ment. 

Atlanta was now growing with increasing 
rapidity, and the inadequacy of the existing sys- 
tem became so obvious by 1888 that the City 
caused to be dug an artesian well at the intersec- 
tion of Whitehall and Peachtree Streets, for the 
purpose of supplementing the water supply in the 
down-town TDusiness section. This well, which 
long since was abandoned, was carried to a depth 



EVENTS MOVE SWIFTLY 107 

of 2,044 feet, though the last 900 feet added lit- 
tle to the flow. Its capacity was about 200,000 
gallons per day, and the water was conveyed along 
the principal down-town streets in pipes varying 
from three to six inches in diameter. Taps, pro- 
vided with iron cups, were placed at convenient 
points for the accommodation of the thirsty. The 
cups were securely chained to the taps as a pre- 
caution against absent-minded people carrying 
them off, though the modern sanitarian no doubt 
would declare that this would have been the best 
thing that could have happened to them. But 
germs had not then attained the dignity and im- 
portance which attaches to them today. 

The momentum behind Atlanta's growth in- 
creased and the futility of attempting to meet its 
needs by digging wells became obvious. There- 
upon definite steps were taken to obtain a source 
of supply that would take care of the future as 
well as the present. It was recognized that the 
Chattahoochee River offered the only permanent 
solution of the problem, and the next step was 
to bring the waters of this stream to the City, A 
site was selected near Bolton, Ga., and there a 
huge plant was erected. This plant, enlarged as 
the needs arose, now supplies about nine billion 
gallons of water per annum, with a gross revenue 
to the City of nearly a million dollars. The most 
modern methods of filteration and purification are 
used, and when the water flows through the more 
than four hundred miles of pipe to the consumers 
in Atlanta and vicinity, it is clear and pure. 

Municipal ownership of public utilities has been 
the theme of much controversy, and undoubtedlv 



108 ATLANTA 

there have been failure along this line, but At- 
lanta's experience with its water works system 
has been a most gratifying success. The system 
is maintained upon an efficient basis, and the 
profits arising from its operation, aggregating 
around a quarter of a million dollars a year, have 
been of great value to the City, making it pos- 
sible to carry through numerous projects of ben- 
efit that would have been impossible had these 
earnings been flowing into the coffers of a pri- 
vately o^\Tied enterprise. 

AVhile the agitation for an adequate water sup- 
ply was going on in 1866, the subject of an effi- 
cient fire department also was receiving atten- 
tion. For a number of years prior to the war, 
and throughout that conflict, fire protection was 
furnished by volunteer organizations, and there 
is no more brilliant chapter in the annals of At- 
lanta than that which concerns the work of these 
pioneer organizations. They performed their 
duty well during the times of peace and their ser- 
vices became glorious in times of war. During the 
weeks that Atlanta was under fire from the Fed- 
eral guns, and exploding shells were causing the 
outbreak of flames in all directions, these volun- 
. teers displayed a heroism and a devotion to duty 
that entitled them to rank among the bravest of 
the brave. 

The work of these men was made doubl}^ dan- 
gerous during this period by reason of the fact 
that mounting flames furnished as good a target as 
the Union gunners could desire, and when the vol- 
unteers went out to subdue a burning structure it 
was to face, not only the possibilities of being 



EVENTS MOVE SWIFTLY 109 

crushed by falling walls — one of the usual hazards 
of fire fighting — but they were in innninent peril 
of being blown to atoms by exploding shells. Men 
never fought under more difficult circumstances, 
or distinguished themselves with greater valor. 
But for their devotion to duty and their indiffer- 
ence to personal danger, General Sherman would 
have found his labors in burning Atlanta greatly 
minimized. In addition to serving as firemen, these 
men Avere members of the home militia, member- 
ship in which also involved certain perils. 

The first of these early fire companies Avas in- 
corporated in 1851 and re-incorporated in 1854, as 
Atlanta Fire Company No. 1. The following 
names appear as the incorporators: W. A. Bald- 
win, W. Barnes, C. C. Rodes, G. R. Rrazier, H. 
Muhlenbrink, B. S. Lamb, R. Gardner, S. Frank- 
ford, H. M. Mitchell, ^Y. J. Houston, P. J. Em- 
mel, L. J. Parr, E. W. Hunnicutt, J. F. Reynolds, 
C. A. AVhaley, John Kershaw, A. C. PuUiam and 
J. S. Stone. Terence Doonan was the first pres- 
ident, being succeeded by J. A. Hayden. The lat- 
ter was succeeded by J. H. Mecaslin, who occu- 
pied the office for over a score of years, being at 
this post when a paid fire department was insti- 
tuted in 1882, and the pioneer fire-fighting com- 
pany became a social organization, membership 
in which justly was counted a great distinction. 

With the growth of the City and the increased 
demand for fire protection, other companies were 
formed, volunteers being organized in the follow- 
ing order: December 10, 1856, the Mechanic's 
Fire Company No. 2; February 28, 1859, Tallulah 
Fire Company No. 3; November 28, 1859, At- 



110 ATLANTA 

lanta Hook and Ladder Company; April 3, 1871, 
E. E. Lee Fire Company No. 4; October 2, 1871, 
Gate City Fire Company No. 5. 

Hand pumps and buckets were used by these 
early companies, but in 1866, at the time of the 
great industrial and commercial revival referred 
to at the opening of this chapter, a steam fire en- 
gine was purchased at a cost of $5,000. It was 
considered a marvel of efficiency in those days 
as it could be fired and made ready for action in 
seven minutes. Its efficiency was demonstrated 
at a public performance on October 16, 1866, and 
property owners breathed more freely when they 
saw it throw a one-inch stream 225 feet. Its ac- 
quisition was celebrated by a street parade, fol- 
lowed by a banquet at the city hall, in which city 
officials and prominent citizens paid homage to 
the firemen. In 1871 two additional steam engines 
were purchased, and from that time until now 
persistent effort has been made to maintain a 
high degree of efficiency. 

The length of time that Atlanta managed to 
get along and escape serious losses from fire, 
while protected by volunteers, forms a striking 
testimonial to the men who composed these organ- 
izations. Though the community continued to 
grow rapidly and had attained the proportions 
of a city long before 1882, it was not until that 
year that the paid system was organized. Inci- 
dentally, it was during this year that the City suf- 
fered its most serious loss from flames. The 
Kimball House, one of the most monumental 
structures in the City at that time, was destroyed, 



EVENTS MOVE SAVIFTLY HI 

running the total losses for the year up to $550,- 

The old-time fire-horse, with his straining mus- 
cles and flying feet, and the old-time fire engine, 
with its rain of sparks and cloud of smoke, disap- 
peared in Atlanta in 1917, at which time the en- 
tire department was motorized and placed upon a 
basis of efficiency unexcelled in the Soutli. 

Reverting again to that first year after the war, 
1866, it is found that the gas company, whose 
plant had been destroyed with the other indus- 
tries of the City, was again ready for business, 
but, after the manner of gas companies, then and 
now, wanted more money for furnishing this fuel. 
In a memorial addressed to the city council in 
September of that year, the company sets forth 
that ''coal, which is the main element" in the man- 
ufacture of gas, could be bought in 1855 for fif- 
teen cents per bushel, laid down at the works ; but 
at present it costs from twenty-eight to thirty- 
three cents a bushel; lime at the same pei-iod could 
be bought for from twenty-eight to thirty-five 
cents per bushel, while now the price is froni six- 
ty-five to eighty cents. Labor used to cost from 
$32 to $35 per month. Now the price of labor is 
from $50 to $70 per month." 

A wail also went up from the company on ac- 
count of the alleged negligence of the Citv'in turn- 
ing off the lights, it being charged that they 
*'were often found burning at noonday." Gas 
had been paid for prior to this at the rate of $5 
per thousand feet, a price which would be consid- 
ered prohibitive at this time, but the company ap- 
pears not to have prospered measurably even at 



112 ATLANTA 

this rate. However, prosperity did come to it 
later, and inasmuch as the City was a stockholder 
in the enterprise, it shared in the profits. 

The second election in Atlanta after the war, 
was held on October 16, 1866, and was for the pur- 
pose of voting upon the adoption or rejection of a 
legislative proposal to extend the limits of the 
City "to a distance of one and a half miles in all 
directions from the passenger depot." The cit- 
izens declared in favor of the extension by a vote 
of 152 to 30. The next election came on Decem- 
ber 5, of the same year, when city officials were 
chosen, James E. Williams succeeding Mayor 
Calhoun, who had occupied the office during the 
troubled years of the war and who was not a can- 
didate for re-election. 

The problem of streets, sidewalks, sewers and 
water works all being of a more or less urgent 
character at this time, one of the first acts of the 
neM^ administration was to create the office of 
Commissioner of Public Works, and to elect to 
this important post Robert Crawford, whose sal- 
ary was fixed at $1,500 per annum. 

The status of educational affairs in Atlanta the 
first year after the war also w^as indicative of the 
general atmosphere of progress. The Atlanta 
Medical College, which had been organized in 
1855, but went out of business along with other 
like enterprises as tlie City became firmly gripped 
in the jaws of war, w^as reopened and moved for- 
ward with alacraty. Its first graduation exercises 
after the war, August, 1866, witnessed the pre- 
sentation of diplomas to a class of twenty-three. 
Former students had returned at once and enter- 



■jj^^^^H^^^H^^^l^^^^^^^^^^^HE^^ %^f^ 


^^^plM "^vB^ 1 . t'.i|j 


fee, '-'■■^1K:\,^'^.->>:i*£y:;; ,/" 'fl| 




UPPER— PERSHING POINT, SHOWING IMEMORIAL TO 

SOLDIERS OF WORLD WAR 
LOWER— OLD JOEL HURT RESIDENCE, ON LOT WHERE 

HARDY IVY BUILT THE FIRST HOUSE ERECTED 

IN ATLANTA, A LOG CABIN 



EVENTS MOVE SWIFTLY 113 

ed enthusiastically upon their labors. 

The building of the Medical College was one of 
the few that escaped the torch when the City was 
burned by the order of General Sherman, and this 
was due entirely to the ingenuity and boldness of 
Dr. N. D'Alvigny, curator of the museum. Word 
had gone forth for the building to be burned, and 
the force assigned to the destruction went to the 
scene to apply the torch. Dr. DAlvigny confront- 
ed the squad at the door with the question : 

''Would you burn a building that is filled with 
patients?" 

''No," was the reply, "but all the patients have 
been removed from this building." 

"You are mistaken," cried the Doctor, and 
thereupon he threw open the door and invited the 
torch-bearers in. What they saw made them gasp, 
for every bed had an occupant, and from the 
groans that were arising these occupants were 
suffering no little. 

Feeling that he had no time to correct what 
seemed to be the error of some one else, the man 
in charge of the destroyers ordered his forces to 
vacate, and the building was spared. 

What the resourceful doctor had done was to 
put all of the attendants of the hospital to bed, 
each with instructions to play sick or wounded, 
and the ruse worked beautifully. As a matter of 
fact, the patients had been removed, but the of- 
ficer in charge of the burning had no means of 
ascertaining this, and, in the face of what he saw, 
thought that an error had been made. During the 
fighting about Atlanta the building had been used 
as a hospital, and some wounded Confederates 



114 ATLANTA 

were in it when the destruction of the City was 
determined upon, but they were carried else- 
where before the order went forth for its destruc- 
tion. 

Dr. D'Alvigny was a soldier, having seen ser- 
vice in the army of France, and he was devoted 
to the cause of the Confederacy. A\Tien General 
Hood evacuated the City he was left in charge of 
the hospital, into which the college had been con- 
verted, and no man could have been more faithful 
in discharging his responsibilities. 

In addition to the Medical College, there were 
twenty-two schools in operation in the latter part 
of 1866, chief among them being the Atlanta High 
School, the West End Academy, the Atlanta Fe- 
male Institute and College of Music and a school 
for boys conducted by W. M. Bray. During this 
year a school for negroes was founded here by 
the American Missionary Society, a building be- 
ing brought to the City from Chattanooga in which 
to house the children. This became known as the 
Storrs School. There were three other schools 
for colored children in operation. 

Up to this time, and for some years thereafter, 
such educational facilities as existed in Atlanta, 
and throughout Georgia, for that matter, were 
supplied by private schools. The public scarcely 
had begim to recognize the responsibility that 
rested upon it to provide for the education of the 
youth of the State. Those who had the means 
sent their children to private schools and paid 
the tolls. Those who were less fortunate, let 
their children grow up with little preparation for 
the duties of life. To this deplorable situation is 



EVENTS MOVE SWIFTLY 115 

due the fact that tens of thousands of boys and 
girls growing up at that time grew up in ignor- 
ance, thus establishing for the South a most un- 
enviable reputation for illiteracy. 

It is worthy of note, and is complimentary to 
the intelligence of the citizenship of Atlanta, that 
the first awakening to the necessity of education 
at the public expense, was experienced in this 
City. As far back as 1858, the agitation for free 
public schools began in this City, and those behind 
it did not rest until this great agency for enlighten- 
ment became an established fact, both in Atlanta 
and throughout the State of Georgia. Immediate 
results were not obtained however, and presently 
all such issues were overshadowed by the ap- 
proach of war. But with the passing of that 
tragedy and the slow return to normal activities, 
the agitation was renewed, and was continued un- 
til success was achieved in 1872. In this year was 
founded the magnificent free public school sys- 
tem of the present. A school census taken in 1870 
showed a total of 6,474, which embraced all chil- 
dren between the ages of six and eighteen years. 
Of these 3,345 were white and 3,129 were colored. 
The initial attendance, when the free schools were 
opened in 1872, was 1,844, which underwent a 
rapid increase. 

About this time agitation for the removal of 
the State Capital from Milledgeville to Atlanta, 
begun when the City was in its swaddling clothes, 
had developed into a systematic movement, which 
was being pushed with characteristic zeal. The 
Legislature finally was induced to submit the is- 
sue to a vote of the people, and when the election 



116 ATLANTA 

was held in 1877, it resulted in Atlanta being 
chosen as the Capital of Georgia. Thus culmin- 
ated a movement begun in 1854 when Atlanta was 
a mere village and when many considered the 
ambition of the community as expressed in this 
movement to be either a joke or a clever adver- 
tising stunt. 

With the establishment of free public schools, 
and the careful selection of school teachers by 
which it was characterized, passed the day of 
limited educational opportunity, and also the day 
of uncertainty regarding the fitness of those en- 
trusted with the important work of developing 
the mental powers of the boys and girls. The 
long fight for free schools was accompanied by a 
campaign of education that served to create a 
high degree of appreciation both as to the im- 
portance of education and the wisdom of wise 
selection in the appointment of instructors. Un- 
like the legendary school trustee, who was uncer- 
tain whether the ''flat" or ''round" system 
should be adopted, Atlantans knew what they 
wanted, and insisted upon the best. This legend- 
ary trustee, as the story goes, was aiding in the 
examination of an applicant for teacher in the 
rural school, and among other questions, he asked 
this one: 

"Which system do you teach, that the world is 
round or is flat?" 

The applicant, who wanted the job and wanted 
it now, answered at once: 

"I understand both systems thoroughly and 
can teach either one you want ! ' ' 



EVENTS MOVE SWIFTLY 117 

Unhappily, this tale illustrated a condition that 
existed in some quarters for a number of years 
following the war, and it required skilled leader- 
ship, such as was displayed in Atlanta, to bring 
about the tremendous advances that have been 
made during the past quarter of a century. 

Another development of the year 1866. when 
Atlanta was laying so many plans for future 
greatness, was the inception of a movement for 
street railway transportation. A charter was ob- 
tained from the Legislature that year for a street 
railway company, showing the fine faith of the 
people in the future of their new-born city at a 
time when they were still surrounded by the ash- 
es and debris of war. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

Tragic Close of Daring Deed 

IN Atlanta, during the month of June, 1862, was 
witnessed the tragic close of one of the most 
daring and spectacular exploits of the war — 
the execution of James J. Andrews, leader of 
the famous Andrews ' Raiders, and seven members 
of his band, who came very near to wrecking the 
hopes of the South far in advance of the actual 
collapse. 

There is nothing more thrilling in the annals of 
the War Between the States than the effort made 
by this little group of adventurers to destroy the 
line of communication between Atlanta and Chat- 
tanooga, coupled with the stern and exciting 
pursuit which culminated finally in their capture 
— nor nothing more tragic than the fate which 
the leaders met when their plans were circum- 
vented by the skill and energy of their captors. 

As it is difficult in this time of calm and peace 
to visualize showers of shells falling upon At- 
lanta day after day as Federal guns pounded 
away at the gates of the City, so also is it difficult 
to visualize that scene when, on June 7, 1862, 
young Andrews was carried into the woods near 
where the Georgian Terrace now stands, and was 
there '* hanged by the neck until dead," or to 
grasp the reality of that other scene, presented 
on June 18 of the same year, when seven other 
members of the daring party were taken out in 
similar fashion and dropped to their death. 



TRAGIC CLOSE OF DARING DEED 119 

Events must be interpreted in the light of the 
times, and those were times of war; times when 
the lives and the fortunes of nations hung in the 
balance, and when all else was made subordinate 
to the grim requirements of war. According to 
this code, if a city seemed to stand in the way of 
ultimate triumph, it must be destroyed, and if an 
individual threatend the success of a campaign, 
then that individual had to be removed. North 
and South, as always in times of war, there was 
but one penalty for the disguised spy, and this 
penalty was death. Soldiers, fighting as such, en- 
joyed immunity from physical harm when taken 
prisoner, but the spy ; the man who crept into the 
lines of the enemy and sought by subtle and secret 
means to obtain information, or to inflict an un- 
expected blow, there was no mercy for him. In 
laying down his weapons and discarding his uni- 
form, he cast aside all claim to consideration in 
the event of exposure and capture — a thing he well 
knew and a system which he, as a part of the 
military system of the contending force, ac- 
quiesced in. 

But the very fact of the existence of this set- 
tled rule of ''death for the spy" but served to 
kindle popular appreciation of the work of the 
men who, knowing full well what awaited them 
should they be taken, dared to go on; an appre- 
ciation, however, that at the time was limited 
largely to the side for which the spy was at work ! 

Naturally, few witnesses survive sixty years 
after the enactment of any deed where the num- 
ber of spectators is comparatively small, but 
there are several men living who saw Andrews 



120 ATLANTA 

and his companions put to death, among them 
being J. C. Looney, a citizen of Atlanta, who was 
then a member of Col. W. J. Lawton's cavalry- 
regiment, of the Second Georgia, and G. A. Horn- 
ady, who was a Confederate private. 

At the time of the Andrews Kaid Col. Lawton's 
regiment constituted the provost guard of At- 
lanta, and it was a detail of officers from this 
guard that carried the men, who had been con- 
demned by court-martial, to their place of execu- 
tion. 

' ' It was a pathetic scene, ' ' said Mr. Looney, in 
recalling the execution of Andrews, "and all who 
witnessed it felt depressed. Andrews, who real- 
ized the seriousness of the venture in which he 
had engaged, took the consequences philsophic- 
ally, and went to his death without a protest. The 
hero of a daring adventure in which he had lost, 
he died as a soldier should, calmly and courag- 
eously. The seven, who were executed some days 
later, died as one would expect such men to die, 
but the execution was made doubly tragic by reas- 
on of the fact that the weight of two of the con- 
demned men caused the ropes to break, and they 
had to be hanged the second time. It was dread- 
ful, and while all of us recognized the justice of 
the rule under which death was made the fate of 
ihe spy, we found but poor satisfaction in its 
application and deplored the conditions which 
made such things necessary. We were witness- 
ing one of the worst phases of war, and were all 
glad to turn our backs upon the scene when the 
l)odies had been cut down and buried from view." 



TRAGIC CLOSE OF DARING DEED 121 

G. A. Hornady, another veteran of the Confed- 
eracy, who witnessed the execution of these dar- 
ing men, relates that Andrews made a little talk 
on the gallows, in which he said that he entered 
upon the exploit knowing its dangers and having 
lost, he was ready to pay the penalty. He said 
that he was to have received $10,000 in money and 
also the right to convey cotton through the lines 
as a reward for his services if his plans had gone 
through. 

"Andrews was a tall, good-looking young fel- 
low, ' ' said Mr. Hornady, ' ' and when the trap was 
sprung his feet reached the ground. Thereupon 
some one in the crowd quickly obtained a spade 
and shoveled the dirt aside so that the body would 
hang free and that death might result as speedily 
as possible." 

The incidents leading up to these executions 
are familiar to students of history, but the 
theme is one that will not grow old so long as 
feats of daring stir the imagination. 

To grasp the tremendous significance of the 
plot that brought Andrews and his party into 
Georgia one must have some idea of the position 
of the Confederate forces at the time of the raid, 
such an understanding of the geographical situa- 
tion being essential to an adequate appreciation 
of the disastrous consequences that would have 
resulted had the mission of the raiders been suc- 
cessful. 

The main armies of the Confederacy were held 
together by a chain of railroads extending from 
Memphis to Richmond, passing through Chatta- 
nooga. This main artery of communication was 



122 ATLANTA 

met at Chattanooga by the railroad running to 
Atlanta, and through the latter road conununica- 
tion was maintained with a large part of the 
South. To keep this source of communication 
and supply open was absolutely essential to the 
maintenance of the Confederate armies. Sever- 
ance would have spelled disaster; a fact so well 
recognized that the Union leaders were eager for 
any measures which promised fulfillment of the de- 
sire. Therefore, when James L. Andrews con- 
ceived the idea of organizing a small party of raid- 
ers and coming to Atlanta for the purpose of plot- 
ting the destruction of the line of communication 
to Chattanooga, his plan met the instant approval 
of General Buell, before whom it was laid in 
March, 1862, shortly after the capture of Fort 
Donelson, which led to the capture of Nashville. 

The plan of Andrews, as outlined to General 
Buell, was to come to Atlanta with his raiders. 
Here, he said, they would take passage on the 
train for Chattanooga, and, at a convenient mo- 
ment, seize the locomotive. This done, they 
would cut communication and proceed along the 
highway, burning all bridges and inflicting such 
other damage as was found possible. The suc- 
cess of the plan, he argued, would mean the in- 
terruption of communication for a length of time 
sufficient to accomplish the overwhelming defeat 
of the isolated armies. 

Disguised as Southerners, Andrews and eight 
others succeeded in making their way into Geor- 
gia, but for some reason they failed in the first 
instance to find the train they sought to seize, and 
nothing was accomplished. Their success, how- 



TEAGIC CLOSE OF DARING DEED 123 

ever, in invading the South and making their es- 
cape, increased the boldness of Andrews, who was 
eager for another excursion into the lines of the 
enemy. This second expedition was formed after 
a consultation by Andrews with General Mitchell 
then at Fort Donelson. This was on April 6, 1862, 
the conference being held in the tent of General 
Mitchell. On the following night a request went 
to the Colonels of three Ohio regiments asking 
for a man from each company for "special and 
hazardous" service. No difficulty was experi- 
enced in getting together a company of twenty- 
four adventurous spirits, and these men started 
on their perilous journey after receiving specific 
instructions from Andrews where to meet in 
Georgia and what to do and say in the event that 
suspicion was aroused at any point. The rendes- 
vouse was Marietta, a suburb of Atlanta, and the 
men were instructed to proceed there in groups of 
two and three. 

On the morning of Saturday, April 12, 1862, 
twenty-two members of the party were gathered 
in the room which Andrews had engaged at the 
hotel in Marietta, and here final instructions 
were given. They were to get on the Chattanogoa 
train leaving Marietta early that morning. This 
train stopped at Big Shanty, the next station, for 
breakfast, and when it stopped the plan was to 
seize the engine, while the crew and passengers 
were in the dining room. 

This program was carried out exactly as 
sketched by Andrews. All members of the party 
boarded the train and when the stop was made 
at Big Shanty they remained passive while the 



124 ATLANTA 

passengers and crew went in for breakfast. When 
the coast seemed clear, Andrews and two en- 
gineers in the party — ^Wilson W. Brown and "Wil- 
liam Knight — made their way to the engine, walk- 
ing in leisurely fashion. Not the slightest sus- 
picion had been aroused, and after briefly review- 
ing the peaceful surroundings, Andrews quietly 
withdrew a coupling pin which disengaged two 
box cars in the forward part of the train from 
the remainder. His men climbed into one of 
these cars, Engineer Knight mounted to the cab 
of the locomotive, cut the bell cord and placed his 
hand upon the throttle, ready for action. Upon 
a signal from Andrews, Knight pulled the throt- 
tle open and the engine, the far-famed ''Gen- 
eral," began to move. With but two cars behind 
it, the locomotive gathered speed rapidly, and 
before the members of the crew realized what was 
happening, the raiders were on their way to what 
they believed was to be a magnificent success. 
None saw the shadow of the gallows just ahead. 

The telegraph wires had been cut to prevent 
the alarm being given, and as there was no loco- 
motive available upon which pursuers might give 
chase, Andrews and his party felt that the worst 
was over; that to go forward, burning bridges 
as they went, would be a comparatively easy 
task. But fate plays queer tricks at times and 
small developments of an unexpected character 
can put at naught the shrewdest plans of man. 

First in the chain of untoward events, the lo- 
comotive came practically to a stop after the 
party had gone only a short distance. This was 
found to be due to the failure to open the damper 



TRAGIC CLOSE OF DARING DEED 125 

in the fire box, which had been closed by the reg- 
ular engineer when he dismounted for breakfast. 
The matter was remedied in a short time, but 
meanwhile precious minutes had fled. Another 
development, and one of far more importance 
was the presence of a locomotive at Etowah, a 
small station about mid-way between Big Shanty 
and Kingston. This engine stood on a spur track 
which ran to the Etowah Iron Works, about five 
miles distant, and had up a full head of steam. 
Some member of the part suggested to Andrews 
the wisdom of destroying this engine, but, anx- 
ious to push on and begin the work of burning the 
eleven bridges which spanned the serpent-like 
Chickamauga, he answered that the engine "will 
make no difference," and urged the crew for- 
ward. This anxiety to hurry on, and this failure 
to appreciate the significance of the locomotive 
which might easily have been destroyed, proved 
the undoing of the expedition and was one of the 
prime factors which led to the melancholy execu- 
tions in Atlanta some sixty days later. For it 
was by the utilization of this engine that the dar- 
ing raiders were run down and captured and eight 
members of the party, including Andrews him- 
self, were started on the road to the gallows. 

At Cass, a half-dozen miles further on, was a 
water tank and wood station, and the man in 
charge at this point was filled with amazement 
when the train rolled up, minus the regular crew 
and the usual passenger coaches, but Andrews 
related a plausible tale to the effect that he had a 
quantity of powder which he was hurrying through 



126 ATLANTA 

to General Beauregard at Corinth, and no sus- 
picion was aroused. 

Things were running smoothly now, and Kings- 
ton was reached slightly ahead of schedule. Here 
Andrews repeating his ingenious fabrication 
about a load of powder for the hard-pressed 
Beauregard, was switched into a siding to await 
the coming of a freight train, due to pass at this 
point. But ill luck for the raiders began to ac- 
cumulate at this point. When the regular freight 
came it developed that there was an **' extra" 
train behind it, necessitating a further wait, and 
when the "extra" appeared finally, it, too, was 
followed by an "extra." 

These extra trains delayed the raiders for over 
an hour, and lent wings to the forces which now 
were in full pursuit. Leaving Kingston three 
hours after seizing the engine, the raiders made 
fast time and were confident of success despite 
the delays. But before reaching Resaca, where 
they expected to destroy a long bridge, across the 
Oostanoola River, they became aware that they 
were being pursued and that the pursuit was so 
rapid that they were in grave danger of being 
overtaken. Meanwhile a heav\" rain had begun to 
fall, and when they stopped to build the fire which 
they hoped would end all chance of capture, 
everything was so wet that great difficulty was 
experienced in starting the flames. Before the 
fire could be gotten under way, the sound of the 
locomotive giving pursuit was heard, and the 
raiders leaped back upon their train and made 
off, tossing wood and ties upon the track in the 
hope of wrecking the train behind them. 



TRAGIC CLOSE OF DARING DEED 127 

In several instances, the raiders had torn up 
Tails, and it became evident now that the engine 
in pursuit was more speedy than the ' ' General, ' ' 
since the crew was able to replace the torn-up 
rails and make the best time of the two. 

The pursuit continued, the raiders hard press- 
ed and having no time to either remove more rails 
or to burn bridges. All the^^ could do was to 
throw obstructions on the track, and most of these 
bounced off. However, enough remained to make 
the pursuers run with caution, and the end did not 
come until Dalton was passed and a long wooden 
bridge across the Chickamauga was reached. Up- 
on approaching this bridge, an effort was made 
to set the last of the box cars on fire, the other car 
having been cut off to lighten the load, but by this 
time the wood had become so soaked by the heavy 
downpour that it was practically impossible to 
get the flames going. But the raiders did the best 
they could, and the car, with the smouldering fire, 
was drawn upon the long, covered bridge, and tl'e 
engine was brought to a stop. The car, with its 
slow-burning fire, was cut off and left standing, 
while all members of the fleeing party climbed 
aboard the engine and were off — not before the 
pursuing party was in full view, however. 

Running upon the bridge, and easing gently 
against the truant box car, the engine carrying 
the pursuing party, pushed it ahead, gathering 
speed as it went, and thus the train came into 
Ringgold, the now blazing car at the front like 
the head of a flaming comet. At Ringgold, near 
the Tennessee line and not far from Chattanooga, 



128 ATLANTA 

the burning car was run into a siding, and the 
pursuit continued. 

Meanwhile the raiders, unable to stop long 
enough to get either wood or water, were coming 
to the end of their tether. The old '* General" 
was gradually slowing down, and at a point some 
five miles from Chattanooga it came to a stop. 
The bold and sensational raid was over. 

As the engine slowed down for its final stop, 
Andrews told his men to leap one by one and 
make off, reasoning that to leave in this fashion 
would enhance the possibilities of escape. This 
order to abandon the engine was the last the bold 
and reckless Andrews gave, and it was obeyed, as 
had been his instructions in the past. In a little 
while members of the party were running through 
the woods in all directions, but the pursuers were 
close at hand, and before the raiders were well 
Tinder way Confederate soldiers who had been 
picked up enroute, were leaping from the pursu- 
ing train and were hot on the trail. 

A number of the raiders, including Andrews, 
were taken immediately, and within a few days 
the entire party had been captured and impris- 
oned at Chattanooga. Later Andrews, and a com- 
panion named Wollman, escaped but they were 
quickly recaptured. 

How the purposes of the raiders were circum- 
vented and their excursion was brought to a trag- 
ic culmination is another thrilling chapter in 
which courage and initiative are dominant feat- 
ures. 

When the noise of escaping steam attracted 
the attention of Conductor William A. Fuller, 





UPPER— CAPITAL CITY CLUB 
LOWER— "BOBBY" BURNS' HOME 



TRAGIC CLOSE OF DARING DEED 129 

who was in charge of the captured train, he was 
at breakfast with Engineer Cain and Anthony 
Murphy, foreman of the railroad shop. He dash- 
ed out at once, followed by others of the crev/, 
but by this time the engine and the two cars were 
well under way. That Federal raiders were re- 
sponsible was not at first suspected, the idea being 
that the train had been captured by conscripts 
who were anxious to escape service. This theory 
was also entertained by soldiers who came run- 
ning up and who had not noticed the eighteen men 
enter the box car but had seen four men on the 
engine. 

Determined not to let these ''conscripts" get 
away with his engine, or with their plans to dodge 
their duty. Conductor Fuller started in pursuit, 
running as fast as he could, being followed by 
Cain and Murphy. His theory was that the men 
would stop and abandon the engine soon after 
they got out of sight, and not yet had it occurred 
to him or to the others that one of the greatest 
coups of the war was being attempted. Two miles 
from Big Shanty, Fuller, who had outrun his 
companions, found a little car that was being 
used by a repair crew. It was propelled by means 
of long poles, which were braced against the 
ground and "pushed," each push carrying the 
car forward a number of feet. Men skilled in 
the operation of such a car could make very good 
time, and Fuller was such a man. He pushed the 
car back, met his companions, and then the three 
started in pursuit of the train. About two miles 
distant they picked up two more men, and were 



130 ATLANTA 

able thereafter to make about seven miles an 
hour except when grades were encountered. 

Just before reaching Etowah, the pursuers 
came in violent contact with the first obstructive 
tactics of the fleeing raiders, for at this point they 
ran into a section where a rail had been removed, 
and were thrown off the track, but no one was in- 
jured. From this point, the smoke of the loco- 
motive which Andrews did not think it worth 
while to disable, could be plainly seen, and put- 
ting their push car back on the rails, the pursuers 
made all possible speed, hoping to reach the point 
before the engine left for the terminus of the 
spur. In this they were successful, and inasmuch 
as this engine, the "Yonah," was more speedy 
than the ''General," the fate of the latter was 
sealed when they took possession of this loco- 
motive and began the stern chase which ended so 
near Chattanooga. However, though the 
"Yonah" was a prime factor in the capture, it 
was not in at the finish, for the "Texas," an even 
faster engine, was encountered at Adairsville and 
this was commandered for the chase. 

Making fast time on the straight stretches, and 
turning the curves with extreme caution, the pur- 
suers gained steadily upon the fleeing raiders, 
despite the fact that constant vigilance was nec- 
essary^ and repeated stops had to be made to re- 
move obstructions. That the engine was not 
wrecked was considered a miracle, in view of the 
average speed maintained, and it is doubtful if 
ever before or since there has been a more thril- 
ling ride or one calling for greater "nerve." 



TRAGIC CLOSE OF DARING DEED 131 

Additions to the pursuing party were picked up 
along the way, and when the end came a formid- 
able force, well armed, was ready to give chase to 
the raiders as they took to the woods. 

The court-martial of the men who were execut- 
ed took place in Knoxville, the convicted men be- 
ing brought to Atlanta under a heavy guard. 

At the same time, the other members of the 
raiding party were brought to Atlanta and placed 
in prison, awaiting final disposition of their 
cases. Here they formulated a successful plan of 
escape and, on the night of October 16, overpow- 
ered the guard and fled. Of the escaping party, 
four were captured at once, and a fifth was taken 
the following day. The others eluded pursuit and 
finally reached the Union lines, where they were 
greeted as heroes. Those recaptured, Jacob 
Parrott, Robert Buffman, William Reddick, Wil- 
liam Bensinger, William Pittenger and Arthur 
H. Mason, were held in prison until March 16, 
1863, when they were exchanged, and returned, 
very happy and very fortunate men, to the North. 
The difference in their fate and that which befell 
those who died on the gallows, was due to the 
fact that the men executed had voluntarily enter- 
ed upon the campaign of destruction while the 
others were detailed to the work. 

The bodies of Andrews and his associates who 
died were removed some years after the close 
of the war and placed, with fitting ceremonies, 
in the National Cemetery at Chattanooga, thus 
going in death to the point toward which they 
fled for their lives on that thrilling day in 1862. 



132 ATLANTA 

Conductor Fuller was proclaimed one of the 
conspicuous heroes of the war because of the 
zeal, courage and intelligence displayed in giv- 
ing pursuit to the raiders, and he was given the 
thanks of the Georgia Legislature. Gold medals 
also Avere voted to him and to Cain and Murphy. 
However, the medals were never struck, as 
events were moving swiftly and the time was at 
hand when major affairs absorbed the thoughts 
of the people to the exclusion of many matters 
that ordinarily would have received a large 
share of public attention. 

At this period Atlanta was a veritable bee- 
hive of industry. Manufacturing plants of every 
description were converted to purposes of war, 
and immense quantities of munitions were 
turned out. Shells, revolvers, bowie knives, 
swords, percussion caps, bass drums, kettle 
drums, shoes, hats, hard tack, candles, matches, 
gold leaf and gold wire (used for surgical pur- 
poses) and coffins, were among some of the 
varied articles produced in vast quantities to 
meet the demands of war. 

The fact that this City had become a vast reser- 
voir from which flowed an endless stream of 
war materials, served to put edge to the keen 
desire of General Sherman for the capture of 
the City, and was in part responsible for the de- 
struction of the place when he abandoned it. 
But this was not the only effect. The tremend- 
ous industrial expansion experienced during 
those hurried days made a profound impression 
upon the thoughtful men of the community and, 
when the conflict had ended and these men came 



TRAGIC CLOSE OF DARING DEED 133 

back to the ashes and debris that had been At- 
lanta, they came with a vision of a city whose 
products should penetrate to far places. It had 
been demonstrated that Atlanta's location was 
ideal for reaching all parts of the South, and, 
this being true, it was an ideal place in which 
to make the things the South had need of. 

Something of the tremendous results achieved 
along the lines of industrial expansion during 
the year following the war, is related in another 
chapter. This growth continued for several 
years, but the momentum was not sufficient to 
satisfy the more forward-looking citizens, and 
in the Winter of 1872 it was decided that the 
time had come when sheer momentum should be 
supplemented by organized community effort. 

In response to this sentiment, a meeting was 
held on January 10, 1873, for the purpose of 
organizing the Atlanta Manufacturers Associa- 
tion. At this meeting the industrial future of 
the City was discussed from every angle, and the 
concensus of opinion seems to have been that the 
prime difficulty in the way of continued industrial 
growth was the high price for coal which prevailed 
at that time. This commodity was selling for from 
twenty-five to thirty-five cents a bushel, and it 
was pointed out that cheaper fuel would have 
to be provided if Atlanta was to realize her true 
destiny as a manufacturing community. 

The urgent need of rail connection with the 
coal fields of Alabama was stressed, and here 
was born one of the initial influences which led 
to the building of the Georgia Pacific Railroad 
<now the Southern) between Atlanta and Bir- 



134 ATLANTA 

mingham. Until this road was built, connection 
with Birmingham was by way of Chattanooga. 

Formal organization of the Manufacturers 
Association was completed on January 17, with 
J. C. Peck as president, and the organization 
continued in existence for a number of years, 
playing a virile part in the growth of the City. 
After being reorganized several times, this pio- 
neer association was allowed to die, but in the 
meantime others had arisen to carry on the work, 
and the spirit behind the initial movement sur- 
vived. 

There are today more than a hundred com- 
mercial, trade and civic organizations in Atlanta, 
each imbued with the spirit of accomplishment. 



CHAPTER IX. 
Pioneers Recall Old Days 

THE men who laid the foundations of At- 
lanta with such security in the beginning, 
were thoughtful enough, in latter years 
to get together for the preservation of 
historical facts relating to the early days, and 
thus much information which otherwise might 
have been lost, was made a matter of record. 

On October 26, 1891, the Pioneer Citizens' So- 
ciety of Atlanta was organized, Jonathan Nor- 
eross. President ; W. L. Calhoun, First Vice-Pres- 
ident ; John Collier, Second Vice-President ; John 
H. James, Third Vice-President ; William H. Hul- 
sey. Fourth Vice-President; A. Leyden, Secre- 
tary; John A. Doane, Assistant Secretary; R. F. 
Maddox, Treasurer; B. F. Abbott, and W. H. 
Fuller, Historians, and Rev. A. G. Thomas, Chap- 
lain. This organization was incorporated for- 
mally, and at once became active. The member- 
ship grew rapidly, and in a short time embraced 
a large number of those who had been identified 
with the early growth of the City. 

In 1902, the Society caused to be published a 
book called the ''History of Atlanta and its Pio- 
neers," which formed a composite of the recol- 
lections of the ''Pioneers'' as they met from time 
to time and discussed the old days. Incorporated 
in it also, are a number of historical documents, 
and numerous sketches of the men who formed the 



136 ATLANTA 

brain and brawn of Atlanta in the days of its 
youth. 

Prior to the organization of the Pioneer Cit- 
izens ' Society, there had been an attempt to form 
such an association, but for some reason it failed 
— perhaps because of the comparative youth of 
the City when the initial effort was made. On 
the evening of April 24, 1871, a meeting was held 
in the parlors of the Kimball House for the or- 
ganization of the ''Atlanta Pioneer and Historic 
Society," and quite a number of gentlemen as- 
sembled. The project was concurred in most 
heartily, and organization was perfected by the 
election of William Ezzard, President; Jonathan 
Norcross, Vice-President, and William R. Han- 
leiter. Secretary. 

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Hanleiter, who had 
called the meeting and was the prime exponent 
of the idea, moved to Griffin, and the society never 
became active. However, as a result of this 
one meeting, a number of interesting facts were 
developed. Those present told many incidents of 
the early days, which were jotted down by the 
secretary, and finally found their way into the 
book Avhich appeared more than thirty years 
thereafter. 

Some of the recollections recorded upon that 
occasion, as these pioneers "spoke from the 
heart," are worthy of being passed on, and are 
reproduced here : 

John Thrasher, who built the first store erected 
upon the ground where so many sky-scrapers 
stand today, said in part : 



PIONEERS RECALL OLD DAYS 137 

"When I arrived here in 1839, the country was 
entirely covered by forest. There was but one 
house here. It was built of logs and was occupied 
by an old woman and her daughter. I went to 
work and built a store. First one person moved 
in from the country and then another, until we 
had a right smart little town, but the people 
around here were very poor. Many of the women 
wore no shoes at all. We had dirt floors in our 
houses. 

''As the place grew up, the present Whitehall 
Street was a place for drinking and fighting. 
After a while I sold out and went to Griffin. I 
came back in 1844 and went into business on Mari- 
etta Street. At that time Mr. Norcross had a 
* horse' saAv mill which was regarded as a curios- 
ity. People came from the country on purpose 
to look at it." 

That Mr. Thrasher did not have much faith in 
the future of the community, is revealed by his 
next statement: 

"At one time, while I was absent from town, 
my brother-in-law, who was associated with me 
in the store, bought a piece of land thirty feet 
wide, running back two hundred feet, between 
Mitchell and Hunter Streets, paying sixty dollars 
for it. I w^as very much provoked when I heard 
of it, for I had previously refused to give five 
dollars an acre for the same land, and he had 
given at the rate of two dollars a foot for it. I 
told him if he made any more such trades I would 
dissolve partnership with him sure. A little while 
after he sold the same piece of property for ninety 
dollars, and I told him the fools are not all dead 



138 ATLANTA 

yet, and never to buy another piece of property 
in Atlanta by the foot," 

In view of the foregoing, it is interesting to 
observe Mr. Thrasher's own experience in ac- 
quiring a piece of property that he wanted. He 
related it thus: 

' ' There was one piece of property that I wanted 
after the town got settled and was named Atlan- 
ta, and that was called Lloyd's Corner. I tried 
for fifteen years to buy that property. The first 
time he asked me $3,000 and I offered $2,500. 
After a while I concluded to give him his price, 
and then he asked me $4,000. I finally concluded 
to give him $4,000 and he asked me $5,000, and 
he went on that way until he got up to $25,000, 
and I finally took it at that price. It went up 
from $3,000 to $25,000 before the trade was 
made." 

William Ezzard, former Mayor, told of how 
Atlanta came to be known as the ''Gate City,'^ 
and, at the same time, revealed the details of an 
interesting ceremony enacted when the waters of 
the Mississippi were carried to Charleston and 
made ''to mingle with the waters of the Atlantic." 
He said: 

"The name of the 'Gate City' was given to 
Atlanta in Charleston in 1857, and it came about 
in this way : When the road was completed con- 
necting Charleston with Memphis, the people of 
Charleston took a hogshead of water from the bay 
and placed it on a car, together with a fire en- 
gine, and went to Memphis for the purpose of 
mingling the waters of the Atlantic with those 
of the Mississippi. In May or June of 1857, the 



PIONEERS RECALL OLD DAYS 139 

Mayor of Memphis and a large number of ladies 
and gentlemen, came through Atlanta on their 
way to Charleston, carrying water from the Mis- 
sissippi, and they had a fire engine with them 
also. I was then Mayor of Atlanta and gave them 
a reception and prepared a handsome collation 
for them. They seemed very much pleased with 
the treatment they received. The next morning 
they left for Charleston, and with them myself 
and a large number of ladies and gentlemen from 
this City. We arrived in Charleston and had a 
grand time. We paraded there and marched 
down to the bay and there went through the 
ceremony of pumping the water from the Missis- 
sippi into the ocean. 

"A great many people were in Charleston on 
this occasion, and a grand banquet was given by 
the people of Charleston. Toasts were prepared 
for Savannah, for Macon, for Augusta and At- 
lanta. The toast to Atlanta was 'The Gate City' 
— the only tribute she requires of those who pass 
through her boundries is that they stop long 
enough to partake of the hospitality of her cit- 
izens. After that Atlanta was always called the 
*Gate City' and it was never known as that be- 
fore. The name was given, I suppose, from the 
fact that this railroad had just been constructed 
through the mountains for the purpose of con- 
necting the West with the Atlantic ocean, and 
there was no other way to get to either place ex- 
cept to pass through Atlanta." 

Mr. Norcross then gave a description of the 
first hotel opened in Atlanta, after the Georgia 
road was finished, saying that it was started by 



140 ATLANTA 

a Dr. Joseph Thompson. ''Prior to this.'' he 
said, ** there was a little house on Kimball House 
square, that was the only hotel or boarding house 
there was in Atlanta. The postoffice was there, 
too." 

That the rural population of this vicinity looked 
somewhat askance at the coming of the railroads, 
was shown by a remark of the next speaker, Mr. 
Ezzard, who observed: **I recollect very well 
when the first passenger car came up from Mil- 
ledgeville. The Western and Atlantic was then 
finished as far as Marietta, and the car went on 
through. There was one old farmer who made 
the engineer promise that he would stop and let 
him and his daughter walk over the bridge across 
the Chattahoochee river." 

A tragedy which marked the coming of the first 
train over the Georgia Eailroad was then recalled 
by Mr. Xorcross. who said: "I recollect ver\- well 
the first train of cars that came over the Georgia 
Railroad. It was on the loth of September, 1845. 
The train came in about dark. Judge King was 
on board, and a great many others. There were 
a great many people out and there was great ex- 
citement. There was a well in the square here, 
and such was the excitement, and it being dark, 
a man fell into the well and was drowned. Judge 
King came very near falling in there also. He 
was just on the brink of stepping in when some 
one caught and saved him. I suppose there were 
about twenty families here at that time." 

That the community grew rapidly durijjg the 
next few years, was shown by the next speaker, 



PIOXEERS RECALL OLD DAYS 141 

Mr. Mayer, who said: "In 1848 there weie 215 
votes poUed in the election for mayor." 

Mr. Kyle thereupon observed that "In 1843 
there were about seven families here." 

Mr. Xorcross then told how a change in the 
location of the terminus of the road from Macon 
changed the location of the future city. He said: 
"They at first decided to run the track up by the 
State road shop and build the depot there. With 
that view, the embankment up there was con- 
structed. Those of us who lived up there and 
had bought property, thought that the Xovra 
would be up there, and we held a meeting and 
brought aU the influence we could to bear upon 
the company to get them to change the location 
and bring it down here. We finally prevailed 
on Mr. Tyler, president of the company, to bring 
the road down here (by the Kimball House) to 
the public square, upon condition that Mr. Mitch- 
ell would give a place for the depot. This was 
done, and it was the turning point in the historv 
of Atlanta." 

That tliis change of plans was not satisfactory 
to all the citizenship, was shown by the experience 
of Mr. Thrasher, that pioneer merchant and 
closer trader, who had just described how he 
finally gave $25,000 for a piece of property that 
was offered hun for $3,000 at one time. He took 
the floor again and said : 

''That change was my ruin. I bought one hun- 
dred acres of land with the expectation that the 
Macon road would stop up by the State road 
shops, and when I found that it was going down 
here, I was very much enraged and sold out my 



142 ATLANTA 

interest on that hundred acres for four dollars 
an acre, about one-half of what I gave for it." 

Next came an explanation of why the streets 
of Atlanta are so lacking in uniformity. It was 
given by Mr. Norcross, who said: "The reason 
why the streets are so crooked is that every man 
built on his own land just to suit himself. There 
were only a few who believed that there would 
ever be a town here at all. Governor Crawford 
did not believe there would ever be a city here, 
and Colonel Long, Chief Engineer of the Geor- 
gia Road, said that Atlanta would never be any- 
thing but a wood station." 

That this lack of faith in the future of Atlanta 
cost Colonel Long no little, was shown by the 
next speaker. Judge Hayden, who said Colonel 
Long spent all of his money at Marietta. He 
invested thousands of dollars there, giving it as 
his opinion that "Atlanta would consist of a 
cross-roads store, a blacksmith shop and, perhaps, 
a little cobbler's shop." 

The concluding speaker on this interesting oc- 
casion was H. C. Holcombe, who visited Atlanta, 
then Marthasville, first in 1844, and located here 
in 1847. ~V\Tien he first saw the place, he said, 
there were a few small houses on Decatur Street 
opposite the Kimball House site, "and a few 
scattering shanties at other points," Contin- 
uing he said : 

"I became a citizen of Atlanta on May 4, 1847. 
I found a population of about 250 or 300 persons, 
counting all ages and colors, male and female. In 
September of that year the Methodist Episcopal 
Church held its quarterly meeting under a cotton 



PIONEERS RECALL OLD DAYS 143 

shed that stood on Wheat Street. There was 
not a church building in the community sufficient- 
ly large in which that assembly could be held. 
All of the lots now occupied by churches were 
then in brush and forest trees. The ground upon 
which the depot and office building of the State 
Railroad now stands was surrounded by sturdy 
oaks of the forest, the immediate ground being a 
caney marsh, the surface of which was some 
twenty-five to thirty feet below the grading. Cat- 
tle were frequently found mired and fast in the 
marsh, having gone there to feed on the switch 
cane and other marsh growth. The grounds now 
occupied by the Medical College were covered 
with a deep and thick forest, in which small wild 
game were to be seen and frequently picked off 
by the apt and anxious marksman." 

The density of the wilderness that existed in 
this vicinity in the days of Atlanta's founding, 
is emphasized by many commentators upon condi- 
tions and events of that period. N. A. McLendon, 
writing years ago, said: '*In 1848 Atlanta was 
only a small country village in the heart of an 
almost impenetrable wilderness, surroniidod 1)y 
huge forest trees and thick undergrowth." 

Mr. McLendon 's description of Atlanta as it 
was at that time was prepared with considerable 
attention to detail, and because of its compre- 
hensive character, much of it is reproduced here. 
He said: 

"Li September, 1848, Atlanta claimed a popu- 
lation of 2,000. The principal means of communi- 
cation then were the five public roads which en- 
tered the town from the adjacent counties, viz: 



144 A T L A X T A 

Decatur, Marietta, McDonongh (now Capitol 
Avenue) and the road leading westv\-ard to Xew- 
nan and Cambleton. The fifth and last street 
was Peaehtree Road, running north, which took 
its name from Peaehtree Creek. At that time 
there were only two houses on that road within 
the corporate limits. There was a Methodist 
camp-ground on the right of Peaehtree, near 
North Avenue and Piedmont Avenue, near a large 
bold spring. 

"All of the streets in Atlanta at that time were 
original soil, except from Alabama to Marietta, 
on TMiitehall, where plank walks and streets had 
been laid. This street crossed a small stream 
near where Wall Street noAv is located. The older 
portion of Atlanta was then on the Xorth side of 
Decatur Street, down to Iv^'. Here small wooden 
stores and dwellings were located. The block 
from Pryor to Loyd, opposite the Kimball House 
and Union Depot, was the property of the State 
road, and the freight depot of this road stood 
near the corner of "Wall and Pryor. Xear the 
center of the block, the offices of th^ State road 
were located. The postoffice was a wooden build- 
ing, located on the Corner of Peaehtree, Edge- 
wood and Decatur Streets. Washington Collier 
was postmaster, under President Polk. 

"Thomas Kyle was the proprietor of a small 
store that stood on the comer of Peaehtree and 
Marietta Streets. He carried a mixed stock of 
goods, but the biggest part of his stock was in 
very wet goods. Jonathan Norcross carried a 
general stock and did a large business. On the 
corner of the railroad crossing and Peaehtree 



S" ' ... ''', 




t -iR 



Courtesy of O. L. Miller & Co 
SO:\IE OF :\1AXY niPOKTAXT BUILDINGS MADE POSSI- 
BIJO RY A.X ATLANTA FINANCIAL. INSTITUTION 



PIONEERS RECALL OLD DAYS 145 

Street, was a small confectionaiy store and soda 
fountain run by Mr. Dougherty. From the rail- 
road to Alabama, on the East side of Whitehall, 
there was a small wooden house, called the Hol- 
land House. Richard Peters had a stage stand, 
which occupied about one-half the block from the 
railroad to Alabama Street. The other portion 
of this block was filled with horse-racks. There 
was no livery stable in Atlanta, and people vis- 
iting Atlanta used these racks for the purpose 
of hitching their horses. On the North side of 
the block, from Whitehall to Pryor, was the 
freight depot of the 'Monroe Railroad.' 

''The block on the North side of Alabama be- 
tween Pryor and Loyd, were three stores, one of 
them owned by Loyd, Collins & Clark, who car- 
ried a stock of general merchandise. Another 
was occupied by A. Wheat, general merchant, and 
the other was occupied by Daniel McShuffrie, who 
dealt in wet goods exclusively. 

"On the South side, from Pryor to Whitehall, 
there was only one store house, a grocery store 
run by U. L. Wright. On the opposite corner 
Johnson and Smith occupied a storehouse and 
dealt in general merchandise. There were about 
a dozen other storehouses on Whitehall between 
Alabama and Mitchell. They were occupied by 
James Doan, A. Dulin, Terrence Doonan, William 
Mann, Robert Mangum, William Herring. Richard 
Hightower, James Davis, A. B. Forsyth, and L 
0. and P. E. Daniel. All dealt in general mer- 
chandise. I. 0. and P. E. Daniel occupied a two- 
story brick building on the corner of Whitehall 
and Hunter. The upper story of this building 



146 A T L A N 1 A 

was used as a public hall. It was the only brick 
storehouse in the town. Hass & Levi, Sternberg 
& Co., and B. F. Bomar & Co., also had stores and 
dealt in dry goods and clothing. Dr. N. L. An- 
gler, drugs; Lewis Lawshe, merchant tailor; Mc- 
Pherson & Kichards, books and stationary; John 
Tomlinson, tinware ; were all in business and oc- 
cupied stores on Whitehall. 

"U. L. Wright, A. Dolin, L 0. and P. E. Mc- 
Daniel, John Trammell, Jonathan Norcross, Ter- 
rence Doonan, Fields Hight and A. B. Forsyth, 
were the principal cotton buyers. The manufac- 
turers were Humphries Brothers, shoes; John 
Tomlinson, tinware ; James Craven, jugware, and 
Andy Wells, bricks. 

"There were four churches in Atlanta: Wesley 
Chapel, corner of Peachtree, Pryor and Houston; 
First Baptist, corner Forsyth and Walton; First 
Presbyterian, near the corner of Marietta and 
Spring, and the Episcopal Church, corner Wash- 
ington and Hunter. The cemetery at that time 
was on the West side of Peachtree, corner of 
Baker Street. About 1849 or 1850, Oakland Cem- 
etery was bought by the City and the dead were 
moved from the old cemetery and re-interred in 
Oakland. 

*'The physicians were William Gilbert, N. L. 
Angier and George Smith. Dr. James F. Alex- 
ander moved to Atlanta in 1849 during the small- 
pox epidemic. Dr. Nick Welch was one of the 
dentists and Dr. N. G. Hilburn the other. The 
lawyers were Logan E. Bleckley, Chris Simpson, 
Green B. Haygood, John L. Harris and Luther 
J. Glenn. 



PIONEERS RECALL OLD DAYS 147 

''The resident portion of the town was scat- 
tered from North Forsyth to Luckie, and on De- 
catur, Pryor and McDonough (now Capitol Ave- 
nue), West Alabama and South Forsyth as far 
as Peters, and Atlanta's '400' dwelt on these 
streets at that date. 

"Castleberry Hill was the center of the street 
from the railroad crossing on Peters Street to the 
junction of Walker, and had a very unsavory 
reputation. It was then known as the 'Midway' 
of Atlanta. The principle resort was Walton 
Spring, corner James and Spring. This resort 
at that time was as popular as Grant Park is 
now. The water from this spring was quite cold 
and ran from under a rock. Antonie kept a re- 
freshment stand at the spring where he sold soda 
water, ice cream, cakes and fruits. The baptismal 
pool was also located near this spring. A man 
known as 'Monkey' Baker had a menagerie of 
monkeys and guinea pigs near the junction of 
Walker and Peters Streets. 

"From 1848 until the completion of the West 
Point Railroad, the wagon trade of Atlanta was 
immense. Long trains, with two, four and six 
mules, and man}^ yoke of oxen, came in daily 
with cotton. Some days there was so much that 
it was impossible to weigh all of it the day it 
was received. The merchants did an immense 
business, and nearly every wagon returned home 
laden with merchandise. Nearly all of the cot- 
ton shipped from Atlanta went to Charleston and 
Savannah." 

A graphic insight into conditions as they were 
in 1841, is furnished by Mrs. Willis Carlisle, 



148 ATLANTA 

mother of the first child born in ''Terminus," 
who, with her husband, came here that year. They 
had just been married in Marietta, where the 
parents of Mrs. Carlisle located in 1828, and they 
moved to Terminus at the suggestion of the offi- 
ciating pastor, Rev. Josiah Burke, who expressed 
the opinion that Terminus would be a great city 
some day and was just the place for a young 
couple to start out. Writing in 1892, Mrs. Car- 
lisle said of her early experiences: 

*'We took his (Dr. Burke's) advice, and one 
warm June day we started on our journey (From 
Marietta to Terminus). Not greater was the fire 
of enthusiasm that coursed through the veins of 
those who long ago turned their faces toward 
California wilds in search of gold than was that 
of this young couple as they started to win the 
goal (or gold) at Terminus. As we, with our 
wagons and worldly effects, reached our destina- 
tion, a rude structure which we had procured from 
Judge' Cone, of Decatur, as a dwelling, we, found, 
to our consternation, that it was occupied, and, 
what was more, by rude people who refused to 
vacate. There we were, alone, thrust out into 
the wilderness without shelter, neighbor or friend. 
It was the only available shelter for miles around, 
having been built by Mr. John Thrasher and used 
years before as a commissary for the old 'Mon- 
roe' road hands. It was situated on Marietta 
Road. The families occupying it were Irish, em- 
ployed to grade the road, and seemed to be fix- 
could notify Judge Cone, and finally found an old, 
tures. 

"We began looking about for shelter until we 



PIONEERS RECALL OLD DAYS 149 

dilapidated shanty in which cattle had found 
refuge, and here we camped. After some delay, 
we obtained possession of shanty number one, 
which, for comfort, was little better than the one 
we had just vacated. But it was to be home; and 
let not the reader forget that we were young, am- 
bitious and quite visionary. We felt that Term- 
inus would not always be a terminus, but the 
beginning of much grand and glorious future 
prosperity. 

*' Notwithstanding the noble resolve of this 
young wife to stand by her husband and suffer 
as he suffered, our finer feelings recoiled at the 
sight of the rude floor and bare walls of the one 
room, which she realized was to be parlor, bed- 
room, store for groceries, and possibly dining 
room and kitchen, all in one. Imagine, if you can, 
young reader, if you are a mother or wife, this 
young wife's feelings as she stood and gazed at 
her surroundings. Yet, as she gazed in disap- 
pointment and uncertain fear, this sweet reflec- 
tion came to her: Mary, the mother of Jesus, 
had only a manger for her cherished one to be 
born in, and why should I ask for more? So the 
young and expectant mother of only seventeen 
summers, bowed her head in meek submission 
and grieved no more." 

Mrs. Carlisle then describes the vain search 
made by her husband for more comfortable and 
pleasing surroundings in which to place his wife, 
and his failure to find anything better in all the 
vast Mdlderness. At times she joined him in the 
search, and speaking of these excursions into the 
wilds, she said that they followed many trails, 



150 ATLANTA 

hoping that they would lead to some house, but 
they would lead only to some spring used by rail- 
road hands years before. One of these springs, 
she said, was near the present Forsyth Street 
bridge, and another was Walton Spring. 

Referring again to their place of habitation, she 
said : ' ' The stage driven by Tom Shivers passed 
every other day, back and forth from Decatur to 
Marietta. This event was an oasis in the desert 
of our lives, for it w^as the only thing that broke 
the terrible monotony. There were no churches 
and no Sabbath-schools, so we spent Sunday 
quietly at home. 

"When the land was surveyed and lots in 
Terminus were offered for sale, we bought the 
second that was sold, which was in the block run- 
ning from the corner of Pryor and Decatur 
Streets back to Line Street, now Edgewood Ave- 
nue. On the corner fronting Decatur, my hus- 
band erected a small building in which he con- 
tinued to keep and to sell groceries. His was 
the first grocery store, and the store moved here 
later from Bolton by Loyd & Collins, was the first 
dry goods store in the place. To the rear of this 
block, fronting on Line Street, we had moved our 
dwelling, and had as a neighbor A. B. Forsyth. 
The first sermon was preached in the rock ware- 
house by Rev. John L. Thomas, a Methodist 
minister, and the first boarding house was kept 
in the engineer's office by Mr. Gannan for the 
benefit of the engineers. 

''As the days, weeks and months rolled by, the 
modest little Termiius put on a new garb and 
changed its name -^ 'farthasville. The same 



PIONEERS RECALL OLD DAYS 151 

characteristics which mark Atlanta today were 
hers then, namely : thrift, energy and steady pur- 
pose. The growth was so marvelous and rapid 
that it was impossible to keep pace with it." 



CHAPTER X. 

Growth in Values 

WHILE Atlanta's growth has been very 
rapid, and there has been a steady en- 
hancement in realty values, the City has 
never known one of those hectic 
periods commonly described as a "boom," with 
sudden and enormous inflations and quite as sud- 
den and even more pronounced deflations. Such 
booms were common enough in the South, as well 
as in other parts of the country, during the first 
quarter of a century following the Civil War, and 
in most instances their effects were disasterous, 
the last state of the town passing through one 
of these abnormal periods being worse than its 
first. In all these "booms" enormous profits 
were taken while the fictitious rise continued, but 
as a rule the losses were even greater when the 
bubble had collapsed. In many instances irre- 
pairable injury was done to communities which 
had fair prospects of achieving a generous meas- 
ure of growth. Property values would attain 
such impossible figures during the height of the 
excitement, that those who were left with the bag 
to hold, found it impossible to realize more than 
a fraction of what they had paid, and as a con- 
sequence, the town became "dead," and either 
passed out of existence or remained stunted for 
a great many years. To survive at all required 
extraordinary vitality. 



GROWTH IX VALUES 153 

Any fast-growing city that escapes such a 
^'boom" is entitled to congratulation, and Atlan- 
ta is such a place. There have been neither ab- 
normal advances nor quick recessions here, but 
a sustained increase, both in population and in 
realty values. It is only under such conditions 
that the investor can feel assured that the money 
put in property will grow, and it is because of the 
fixity of Atlanta's growth that its real estate has 
become so attractive to investors. 

The larger part of Atlanta's most compact busi- 
ness section, with its great sky-scraper, its com- 
manding public buildings and its vast mercantile 
establishments, occupies Avhat is known in the rec- 
ords as Land Lot 78, of the 14tli District, consist- 
ing of 2021/^ acres. Originally owned by the Creek 
Nation, this property passed into the hands of the 
State on January 1, 1821, being a small part of the 
acreage that passed from the Creeks to the State. 
Some four and a half years later, July 18, 1825, a 
land lottery was held in which this and other prop- 
erty was passed to private owners, and the person 
to whom Lot 78 fell was Jane Doss. It cost her 
nothing. 

After holding this site of a future city for six 
months, Mrs. Doss sold it, December 21, 1825, 
to Mathew Henry for $50, or less than 25 cents an 
acre. Fancy if you will, property occupied now 
by such structures as the Candler Building, the 
Piedmont Hotel, the Ansley Hotel, the Healey 
Building and the LTiiited States postoffice, selling 
for a sum like this! But already some enhance- 
ment was in sight, for on January 27, 1838, 
Mathew Henry sold it to Ruben Cone for $300. 



154 ATLANTA 

This advance to nearly $1.50 an acre was followed 
by another slight enhancement five years later, 
when, on Angnst 19, 1843, one-half interest in 
the plot, less seven lots and three acres, was sold 
to Ami Williams for $200. On September 17, 
1849, Ami Williams acquired about fifty lots addi- 
tional for the sum of $1,000. By this time At- 
lanta had become established as a growing town, 
and a large part of the property within the future 
metropolis had been divided into lots and no 
longer was selling by the acre. 

On January 23, 1863, Ami Williams sold a lot 
at Peachtree and Baker Streets, fronting 200 feet 
on Peachtree and running back to Spring, for 
$3,000. This parcel comprised about two acres, 
and the price indicates how realty values were 
growing in Atlanta in spite of the fact that the 
War BeTween the States then was at its height. 

In a little over a month after acquiring this 
property, McLendon sold one half of it to J. 
W. Rucker for $5,000. This property fronted 
100^2 feet on Peachtree Street and run back to 
Baker, and then contained a small frame cottage. 
FolloAving the burning of the City and the close of 
the war, there was a recession in values, this lot 
selling on November 14, 1868, for $4,000, the 
purchaser being Austin Leyden. The latter sold 
it on March 13, 1869, for exactly what he paid for 
it, the purchaser being James R. Wiley. It is 
now the property of the James R. Wiley Com- 
pany. It was assessed for this year, 1922, by the 
City of Atlanta at $180,000, its actual value, of 
course, being much in excess of this figure. It 
comprises less than one acre. 



GROWTH IN VALUES 155 

The transactions traced here represents but a 
few out of the many thousands that followed the 
original purchase, many of them furnishing even 
more striking illustrations of the tremendous 
growth in realty values, but it is sufficiently 
representative to show the way in which acreage 
of low value developed into city lots worth fab- 
ulous sums. 

In this connection, the Atlanta Chamber of 
Commerce is circulating a handsome little booklet 
entitled ''The Romance of Atlanta Realty," and 
it presents some astonishing facts, compiled by 
B. H. Scott, while president of the Atlanta Realty 
Board. The introductory paragraph of this little 
booklet reads: 

' ' Herewith is the most astounding story of real 
estate values known to any community in the 
United States for anything like the same length 
of time. It is, at the same time, the record of the 
growth and progress of a city and section that is 
hardly conceivable — certainly not duplicated in 
any of the conservative localities in the known 
world." 

Here are some of the astonishing facts set 
forth in the pages which follow: 

One hundred acres of land situated in West 
End sold in 1909 for $20,000. One half of this 
land, with the improvements, is now valued for 
taxation at $1,390,000. Over $360,000 has been 
realized from the sale of lots on this fifty acres, 
and the other is still held. 

In 1849, J. F. Johnson bought a half acre of 
land fronting 105 feet on Whitehall Street for 



156 ATLANTA 

$200. Twenty-one feet of this property sold in 

1920 for $160,000. 

Five acres of land lying in the block bound by 
Alabama and Hunter Streets was bought by 
Nedom Angier in 1849 for $200. One lot in this 
plot was sold in 1919 for $75,500. 

In 1864 Alfred Austell bought one and three- 
fourths acres on Marietta Street for $5,000. In 

1921 a piece of this property, fronting 90 feet on 
Marietta Street, was sold for $180,000. This is 
the site of the new Federal Reserve Bank. 

Adjoining this is a lot for which the Presby- 
terian Church paid $300 in 1848, and for which 
it received $102,500 when sold to the Federal Re- 
serve Bank. 

What is known as the "Tom Pitts Corner," 
at Five Points, was sold in 1845 for $130. It is 
one of the busiest corners in Atlanta and is worth 
a fabulous sum today. 

The Clarke property at Peachtree and Edge- 
wood Avenue, was sold in 1862 for $12,800. It 
was sold in 1919 for $425,000. The same pur- 
chaser, Asa G. Candler, Incorporated, bought the 
Hunnicutt property at Peachtree and Walton 
Streets in 1917, paving $420,000. It was bought 
in 1862 for $6,000. 

On September 17, 1849, Ammie Williams estate 
bought the land between Peachtree and Pryor 
Streets on Auburn avenue for $1,000. It was sold 
recently for $232,000. 

The Piedmont Hotel, one of the familiar land- 
marks in Atlanta, occupies a piece of ground that 
was sold in 1860 for $300. The hotel company 



GROWTH IN VALUES 157 

paid $125,000 for it years ago, and the land is 
worth vastly more today. 

The property at 138 Peachtree Street, which 
sold in 1920 for $115,000, was purchased in 1869 
for $1,100. 

The Howard Theatre, among the most beauti- 
ful motion picture theatres in the world, occupies 
a site which the theatre company leased for 
twenty-five years upon a valuation of $625,000. 
The lot was bought in 1862 for $580. 

Sixty feet of land in the block where the Gov- 
ernor's Mansion stood on Peachtree Street, was 
purchased in 1882 for $10,200. It was sold in 
1914 for $155,000. 

A half acre on Ivv Street, near Decatur, was 
sold in 1853 by Lemuel P. Grant for $150. In 1920 
it sold for $100,000, and it has since changed 
hands at a substantial advance over this price. 

At the northwest corner of Peachtree and Kim- 
ball Streets, a lot 79x196 feet sold in 1882 for 
$1,200. Sold in 1920, it brought $85,000. 

Another very fortunate investment was made 
by Richard Peters when in 1849 he bought 405 
acres extending from North Avenue to Eighth 
Street, and from Bedford Place to a point beyond 
Plum Street, paying $2,100 for the whole. This 
property embraces one of the most thickly popu- 
lated sections of Atlanta today, among the many 
buildings thereon being the Georgian Terrace 
Hotel, the Ponce de Leon Apartments, the Tech- 
nological School, All Saints Episcopal Church, 
St. Marks Methodist Church, and hundreds of 
other buildings. Its worth today would be diffi- 
cult to estimate, but it is truly a staggering sum. 



158 ATLANTA 

The history of "Land Lot No. 105," forms 
another amazing story of enhancement. It con- 
sists of 2021^ acres and was bought in 1847 for 
$150. It was bought in 1904 by Hugh T. Inman 
for $300,000, and was developed into a high-class 
residential property, selling as high as $250 per 
front foot. One choice block in this tract is said 
to be now worth as much as Mr. Inman paid for 
the whole. 

Many other instances of a similar character 
are recited in this little booklet, all emphasizing 
the obvious fact that money placed in Atlanta 
real estate is planted in fertile soil. 

Two factors account for the tremendous ad- 
vances that have been noted in Atlanta real 
estate. One is growth achieved and the other is 
the certainty of growth to be achieved in the 
future. 

In the development of values outside of the bus- 
iness districts, individual initiative has been an 
important feature. Real estate development pur- 
posed long ago to make Atlanta an attractive 
place in which to live as well as an ideal place in 
which to make a living. Residential sections of 
exceptional charm, such as Druid Hills, Inman 
Park and others, were developed with rare taste, 
and as a consequence visitors to this City are cer- 
tain to be impressed with the beauty, the dignity 
and the restfulness of home life in this conunun- 
ity. 

Beautiful homes are also found in places even 
more remote. On Paces' Ferry Road, far beyond 
historic Peachtree Creek, a number of homes of 
an exceptionally impressive character are found. 



GROWTH IN VALUES 159 

Most of these are surrounded by grounds of such 
spaciousness that they reach the dignity of es- 
tates, and some of the homes are truly palatial in 
character and diminsions. Here the ground is 
high and rolling, affording abundant opportunity 
for the display of skill on the part of the land- 
scape architect, and the scenic effects obtained 
are as restful as they are beautiful. 

This creation of splendid semi-rural estates, is 
a comparatively new departure in the develop- 
ment of Atlanta, but the idea has taken firm hold 
upon those provided with ample means, and the 
number of these spacious and beautifully situated 
homes is multiplying constantly, the whole lend- 
ing great charm to the City as a place of resi- 
dence. 

The abundance and excellence of the building 
materials found in Georgia is reflected in the 
liberality with which these materials are used in 
Atlanta, where the choicest marble and the ever- 
lasting granite plays a prominent part in the ar- 
chitecture of the City. 

Marble of the finest quality exists in this State 
in unlimited quantities, being found in the north- 
west corner of the commonwealth. Here one de- 
posit alone stretches its length for a distance of 
some sixty miles, with a varying mdth of from 
two to three miles and with a depth of from 150 
to 200 feet. This one deposit is estimated to con- 
tain about five hundred billion cubic feet, and 
marble therefrom has gone into the erection of 
many notable buildings throughout the country, 
as well as into many memorials of one kind and 
another. 



160 ATLANTA 

It is only in recent years that the tremendous 
value of these marble deposits has been realized, 
and there is an element of irony in the fact that 
just about the time the public began to realize 
something of their importance, the State was en- 
gaged in the erection of its magnificent new Cap- 
itol in Atlanta — and was building it of Indiana 
sandstone! What an opportunity for displaying 
a great home product to the world was missed at 
this time! 

But, it might be said in passing, such colossal 
indifference to the things under ones own heels 
is not unusual. It has been the greatest single 
handicap under which the South has struggled. 
For many years before the War Between the 
States, the South raised cotton and bought what 
it needed elsewhere. Thus the habit of looking 
to other quarters when needs were to be sup- 
plied grew and became fixed. And, when the war 
was at an end and the slave labor which helped 
to make cotton growing profitable, disappeared, 
the habit survived. Hence the spectacle of men 
and of institutions sending into far places for 
things that could be found at their very doors, 
continued to be a common one — is a common one 
today. 

However, time is bringing about a mighty 
change in this respect. The South, having taken 
stock of its major possessions and having found 
these possessions of a value far surpassing any- 
thing imigination may have pictured, is taking 
hold and developing its own. Thus, while Geor- 
gia's splendid State building is made of Indiana 
stone, Atlanta's greatest temple of business — the 



GROWTH IN VALUES 161 

Candler sky-scraper, is made of Georgia marble, 
as are many other structures in and about the 
City, including the splendid Terminal Station, the 
Public Library, and the Federal Reserve Bank, a 
magnificent structure in its enlarged state. 

Today the beauty and utility of Georgia mar- 
ble is so well recognized that it is used almost un- 
iversally. At least four states have rubbed it in- 
to Georgia, so to speak, by adopting for their own 
Capitals the marble which Georgia itself ignored, 
these States being Minnesota, Kentucky, Arkans- 
as and Rhode Island. Moreover, it has been rec- 
ognized by the Federal Government, in the erec- 
tion of its building in Boston, and in a num- 
ber of other structures, and is represented in New 
York by the Stock Exchange and numerous other 
buildings. The Royal Banks of Canada in Mon- 
treal and in Winnipeg, are built of Georgia mar- 
ble, as is the Illinois State Memorial at Vicksburg, 
the Louisville & Nashville passenger station in 
Louisville, the Cocoran Art Galleries in AVash- 
ington, and so forth and so on. Verily, Georgia 
marble has come into its own! 

Granite rock, another building material of rare 
excellence and wide usage, is found in abundance, 
the most impressive and most colossal example 
being situated in plain view of Atlanta. As I 
glance out of the window where these words are 
being written, I see Stone Mountain, like some 
brown, gigantic dolphin swimming in a sea of 
green. Six hundred and eighty-six feet, this 
mighty mass of stone towers above the surround- 
ing country, the largest and most amazing mon- 
olith in the entire world. Seven miles in circum- 



162 ATLANTA 

ference, and composed of a single unit, it is esti- 
mated to contain sixteen billion feet of workable 
stone. 

But while Stone Mountain contains this vast 
quantity of building material, it is valued chiefly 
because of its unique character, and though a con- 
siderable amount of "pecking" has been done 
about its base in the gathering of building mater- 
ials, it is now to be preserved and is to form a 
unique and truly wonderful memorial. A monu- 
mental panorama, commemorating the valor of 
the Confederate soldier, is being carved upon its 
sheer side, with heroic figures, fifty feet in height, 
and when the work is done it w^ll be without a 
parallel . 

Georgia's granite field extends throughout the 
Piedmont region, comprising sixty-one counties, 
but the most beautiful material is found in the 
Oglesby-Lexington territory. Here monumental 
material abounds and it has come into wide 
usage. 

Atlantans are justly proud of the State which 
has contributed so much to the greatness of their 
own City, and there is a genuine zeal for the en- 
couragement of home institutions and enter- 
prises. The development of mines and quarries, 
the diversification of crops, the promotion of 
dairying, of live stock and swine production, and 
similar enterprises have received their cordial 
support, and they show the measure of their faith 
in Georgia products by the practical use of the 
same whenever and wherever possible. 

The influence of this attitude of helpfulness 
and co-operation upon the State at large has been 



GROWTH IN VALUES 163 

tremendous. Largely through the efforts of one 
great packing plant in Atlanta, Georgia, has 
been brought to a high state of productivity along 
this line ; its record for the production of beef and 
swine having grown rapidly. Atlanta flour mills 
have encouraged the production of wheat, with 
excellent results. Its hotels have fostered the pro- 
duction of poultry, eggs, milk, butter and cream, 
and so it has gone — consumers doing what they 
can to bring about the production in Georgia of 
things that are consumed here. 

The Southeastern Fair, held annually in At- 
lanta, is another vital factor in the development 
of production and in linking the producer up with 
the consumer. The commercial and industrial 
exhibits at this fair serve to parade before the 
agricultural population the products of the fac- 
tories and mills, while the exhibits from farms 
and dairies and orchards serve to keep the city 
dwellers informed concerning the things the soil 
of Georgia will produce. 

This fair, which is much more than a local 
event, its fame spreading throughout the South, 
does far more than one might infer from this 
brief reference, but the only point I seek to em- 
phasize in touching upon it is its wide influence 
upon the movement to keep Georgia products to 
the front. The fair buildings are large and mod- 
ern, and the exhibits, coming from practically all 
points of the compass, are numerous and repre- 
sentative. The attendance, comprising visitors 
from all the Southeastern States, is always large 
and the beneficial effects to Atlanta and to Geor- 
gia and the South are great. 



164 ATLANTA 

The developments preceding the establishment 
of the Southeastern Fair Association were of a 
character well calculated to foster a permanent 
institution of this kind. The Cotton Exposition of 
1881, followed by the Piedmont Expositions, creat- 
ed here an apt appreciation of the value of dis- 
playing the products of the soil and the creations 
of man's genius, and the community also became 
well-grounded in the fundamentals involved both 
in the presentation of such exhibits, and in the 
handling of the masses of people who are attract- 
ed. So it is not surprising that the Southeastern 
Fair has become a great institution, nor that it 
serves a most useful purpose. Its exhibits are 
held each October and always brings a large num- 
ber of visitors. 

Visitors to Atlanta, whether coming to the ex- 
position, or to grand opera, or to some other at- 
traction, find many points of interest in this City. 
Few, however, possess a stronger appeal to the 
student of history than the Cyclorama at Grant 
Park, where is housed the most colossal painting 
of a battle scene that human conflict has in- 
spired. This painting is fifty feet high and four 
hundred feet in circumference, and is a graphic 
portraj^al of the Battle of Atlanta, which sealed 
the fate of the ' ' Citidal of the Confederacy. ' ' 

This remarkable painting, the work of three 
German artists, is housed in a beautiful stone 
building which occupies a commanding bluff. The 
building is approaching completion as these lines 
are written, and in addition to providing a splen- 
did and eminently fitting setting for so remarkable 



GROWTH IN VALUES 165 

a work of art, it provides space for numerous rel- 
ics of "The Lost Cause." It takes the place of a 
frame structure in which the painting was housed 
for 3^ears, and in which it finally began to show 
signs of deterioration. Thereupon it was determ- 
ined to provide a structure in which the work 
would be preserved for centuries to come, and the 
splendid building now practically completed is the 
result. 

Through the main entrance, which is flanked 
by large and graceful columns, one enters the Cycl- 
orama through a wide, high tunnel, which leads to 
stairways upon which the visitor mounts to an el- 
evated stage, circular in form, and there, spread 
before the eyes in a vast circle, is the Battle of 
Atlanta. The painting, since being placed in its 
permanent setting, has been skillfully retouched 
and today has all the appearance of having been 
completed only a few weeks ago. 

The Battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864, raged 
chiefly about the Georgia Railroad, which Gen- 
eral Sherman had thrown his forces across and 
w^as attempting to hold as a part of his plan of 
isolating the City. This railroad, the track torn 
up and the rails bent in all directions, forms the 
central theme in the painting, and by a clever bit 
of stage work, the road is carried across the earth- 
en floor which divides the circular walls of canvas, 
helping thus to create an illusion of continuity. 
Broken w^heels and dismantled cannon, together 
with other debris of war, are also scattered over 
the ground, lending realism to the scene. 

The house in which General Sherman made his 
headquarters, and from in front of which he 



166 ATLANTA 

viewed the ebb and flow of this crucial battle, is 
clearly visible in the distance, while in the oppos- 
ite direction, across hill and vale and over the vast 
and troubled sea of struggling men, is seen the sky- 
line of Atlanta just as it was silhouetted against 
the smoke-laden horizon upon that memorable oc- 
casion, a number of its spires and domes still 
standing in spite of the shells which had been 
rained upon the City. 

Eemarkable detail characterizes the work in a 
number of instances. Amid the multitudenous fig- 
ures, one may easily discover the forms of the two 
brothers who met upon this battle field ; one a Con- 
federate and the other a Federal. The Confeder- 
ate is prostrate upon the ground, severely wound- 
ed, while above him kneels the Federal, a canteen 
of water in his hand. As he performs this act of 
mercy, he discovers that the man upon the ground 
is his brother ; one fighting for the preservation of 
the Union, the other to establish a purely South- 
ern State. For members of one family to be on 
opposite sides in this conflict was not unusual, as 
wide differences of opinion prevailed among the 
people residing in the border states, but that broth- 
ers should meet in the fashion depicted here, pre- 
sents an element of romance that the lecturer, 
who explains the great painting to visitors never 
fails to touch upon. 

The nicity of detail lends to the innnense paint- 
ing an interest that sweeping generalities could 
not arouse, and one may spend hours studying the 
work if accompanied by a person familar with the 
meaning of all the spirited scenes depicted upon 
the immense sweep of canvas. If interested in 



GROWTH IN VALUES 167 

statistics, the visitor may learn that this 400 x 50 
painting weighs five tons and that it represents 
the work of three artists for a period of three 
years. It is valued at $100,000. 

Grant Park, which itself embraces a portion of 
the ground upon which the Battle of Atlanta was 
fought, contains another war relic of unusual in- 
terest: ''The Texas," that fleet locomotive of the 
'60 's, which took the last leg in the pursuit of An- 
drews' Raiders when they decamped from Big 
Shanty with the ''General," their purpose being 
to burn the bridges between Atlanta and Chatta- 
nooga and thus cut off the Confederate armies 
from a fundamentally important source of supply. 
Well preserved and carefully tended, this historic 
locomotive is an unfailing point of attraction. 



CHAPTER XL 

The Stage — Now and Then. 

THE fact that Atlanta is the only city in the 
United States, outside of New York, 
where the Metropolitan Grand Opera 
Company regularly performs, gives this 
City a remarkable distinction, and one which il- 
lumines the enterprise of the City in a peculiarly 
impressive way. A more daring enterprise was 
never launched in a Southern city, and the fact 
that it has become a brilliant and permanent feat- 
ure, forms a striking tribute to the foresight of 
those cultured men and women whose courage 
and enterprise made it possible. 

Grand Opera week in Atlanta is far more than 
a local or State event. It is Southern in its scope, 
and its influence upon the cultural life of the South 
has become marked. Thousands of music lovers 
from all parts of Dixie come to Atlanta for Opera 
"Week, and during this period there assembles in 
the great auditorium an audience more representa- 
tive of the wealth and culture of the South than is 
drawn together upon any other occasion. The ef- 
fect is to have the message of good music carried 
into far places. Through this influence scores of 
communities throughout the Southern States have 
been inspired to stage musical productions upon a 
scale not dreamed of until Atlanta demonstrated 
that Grand Opera could be supported in the South. 
No other city has attempted any such ambitious 



THE STAGE— NOW AND THEN 169 

program as is presented in this City, but many 
have presented events featured by the presence of 
several stai's of international reputation. A'n 
ambition for the best has been fired in the breasts 
of music lovers, and the circle of their influence is 
an ever widening one. 

The scene in the Atlanta Auditorium during 
Grand Opera Week for brilliancy is unsurpassed. 
On such occasions the family jewels are brought 
forth, and the most marvelous creations of the 
milliners are on display. The great auditorium 
is decorated in keeping with the occasion, and on 
the whole it is a wonderfully brilliant and colorful 
spectacle. 

It is also a week of wonderful entertainments. 
The social affairs presented in the many l)eautiful 
homes of Atlanta reach the peak in point of per- 
fection, and it is little wonder that multitudes of 
visitors leave at the close of this remarkable week 
feeling that they have found here all of the bril- 
liance and more of the delights than would have 
iDeen found even in the gay and cultured city of 
Paris. 

The Metropolian Grand Opera Company was 
first brought to Atlanta in 1910, this bold adven- 
ture into the realms of opera being the out5:rowth 
of an elaborate musical festival presented in co^^i- 
memoration of the completion of the Atlanta 
Auditorium in 1909. Until the inauguration of 
Grand Opera Week, this was the most ambitious 
musical venture ever presented in the South. The 
Atlanta Music Festival Association was organized 
in anticipation of this event, and a number of 



170 ATLANTA 

famous singers were engaged, incuding Farrar, 
Fremstad, Jomelli, Langendorff, Maconda, Lans- 
ing, Zenatello, Scotti, Martin, Lawson, Hastings 
and Lockhart, with Schinitzer and Chabot as pian- 
ists and Spalding as violinist. The Dresden Phil- 
harmonic Orchestra also was engaged, and a 
chorus of five hundred voices was trained for the 
event. 

The cost of this undertaking was very large, 
and the, guarantors expected to be called upon to 
make up some deficit, but community pride in the 
completion of the new auditorium was high, and 
the desire to make it the vehicle for converting 
Atlanta into the musical center of the South keen, 
and not the least difficulty was experienced in 
having the guarantee fund largely oversubscribed. 
But there was no deficit. The people of Atlanta, 
and of the States, supported the effort brilliantly, 
and so pronounced was its success that the Music 
Festival Association was inspired to attempt 
something even more elaborate. "Atlanta," the 
members of this organization said, "should have 
the best in music, and should have it as a perm- 
anent thing." 

This spontaneous demand for the best, prompt- 
ed the inquiry "what is the best?" and the answer 
was "Grand Opera, by the Metropolitan Grand 
Opera Company." 

The tremendous cost of such a venture stag- 
gered a few, but the very boldness of it stirred the 
imagination of the leading citizens and after the 
idea had become thoroughly assimilated, they 
went to it with a boundless enthusiasm. 



THE STAGE— NOW AND THEN 171 

The idea of playing an engagement in the South 
had not occurred to the management of the Metro- 
politan Grand Opera Company, and doubt existed 
as to the feasibility of this great musical organiza- 
tion performing outside of New York, but finally a 
figure was named — and a large figure it was — and 
the music lovers of Atlanta knew what they would 
have to do. They met the challenge by subscrib- 
ing promptly the amount necessary to bring grand 
opera to their City, and the initial performance 
was presented in 1910. Results more than justified 
the faith of those who made possible the wonderful 
series of performances. Receipts exceeded ex- 
penditures, as large as they were, and the guaran- 
tors were not called upon for a cent. 

The success of this early presentation, both 
financially and artistically, was such that the 
Music Festival Association adopted grand opera 
as a permanent feature, and it has been presented 
each year since 1910, with the exception of 1918, 
when it was omitted on account of the war, and 
only once during this interval has it been neces- 
sary to supplement the funds necessary to pay all 
cost incident to the presentation. This was in 
1922, when an unusual condition of depression 
prevailed, due to severe deflation and the destruc- 
tion of the cotton crop by the boll weevil. 

In addition to the notable triumph achieved in 
presenting the Metropolitan Grand Opera Com- 
pany as a permanent feature, the Music Festival 
Association caused to be installed in the new audi- 
torium a magnificent organ, said to be the third 
largest in the United States. The cost of this in- 
strument was fifty thousand dollars, and when it 



172 ATLANTA 

had been paid for it was turned over to the City. 
Since its installation it has been a source of de- 
light to the people of Atlanta as well as to those in 
many surrounding communities. Sunday after- 
noon concerts are held regularly, the music being 
conveyed to countless "listeners-in" by the radio 
department of the Atlanta Constitution, and also 
to the throngs in the city parks by means of tele- 
phone amplitiers. Thus multitudes are enabled to 
enjoy the pleasure and inspiration of beautiful 
and majestic harmony. 

The executive head of the Music Festival As- 
sociation is the same now as in the beginning, the 
office of president being occupied by Col. W. L. 
Peel, a man of exceptional culture and one devot- 
ed to all that makes for the progress of Atlanta 
along the highest and best lines. His wife, who 
might well be referred to as one of the great mov- 
ing forces of Atlanta, has been as eager and alert 
in the promotion of things musical, and she, too, 
deserves much credit for the success which has 
crowned the effort to make Atlanta a center of 
musical culture. 

Few changes have been made in the executive 
family of the Music Festival Association since its 
organization. In the beginning, when few real- 
ized how notable the achievements were to be- 
come, the Executive Committee consisted of W. L. 
Peel, C. B. Bidwell, H. M. Atkinson, G. W. Wilkins, 
Clark Howell, John E. Murphy, James R. Gray, V. 
H. Kreigshaber, Ben Lee Crew, W. Woods White, 
C. L. Anderson, Victor L. Smith, John Temple 
Graves, John W. Grant and R. S. Wessels. To- 
day, after the passage of more than a dozen years. 



THE STAGE— NOW AND THEN 173 

the list reads much the same : W. L. Peel, H. M. 
Atkinson, C. B. Bidwell, W. Woods White, Clark 
Howell, John E. Murphy, V. H. Kreigshaber, Ben 
Lee Cre\\% John W. Grant, J. B. Nevins, J. S. 
Cohen, W. M. Brownlee, Robert S. Parker, with S. 
Davies Warfield, of Baltimore, and Otto H. Kahn, 
of New York City. 

The huge auditorium in which grand opera is 
presented is also a concrete testimonial to the pub- 
lic spirit of Atlanta. Built through private initia- 
tive and individual pluck, it is a permanent re- 
minder of the fact that when the Atlanta people 
want a thing they go after it Avith an energy that 
overthrows all obstacles. Legal restrictions pre- 
vented the City of Atlanta from building an audi- 
torium, and while the municipal officials were in 
thorough s>Tiipathy with the project, it was nec- 
essary for private individuals to point the way and 
to develop the means to the end. That they did it, 
providing Atlanta with an auditorium of great 
size and modern in all respects, at a time of gen- 
eral financial depression, forms a striking tribute 
to the genius and the courage of the moving spir- 
its. 

When the movement for an auditorium was be- 
gun, grand opera was not thought of, but it was 
believed that if this City were provided with such 
a building, it speedily would become the conven- 
ient center of the South — an expectation fully jus- 
tified by subsequent events, for it is a fact that At- 
lanta now entertains a convention of some kind al- 
most every day of the year. Not all of them, as a 
matter of course, are held in the auditorium, that 
structure being far too large for a majority of 



174 ATLANTA 

such gatherings, but the fact that the City can care 
comfortably for the greatest event of this kind, and 
does entertain many of them, has served so to pop- 
ularize the City that meetings of every kind and 
character are brought here. 

The building of this great asset to community 
life had its inception in the fall of 1906, when a 
committee of seven, consisting of Eobert F. Mad- 
dox, Asa G. Candler, Sam D. Jones, W. H. 
Kiser, David Woodward, J. Willie Pope and J. W. 
English, called a mass meeting in the Chamber of 
Commerce building and there urged the great im- 
portance of providing an auditorium of sufficient 
capacity to meet the present and future require- 
ments of the City. This committee was created for 
the purpose of providing an alternative plan of 
investing certain funds and certain energies which 
had been gathered for the purpose of holding an 
exposition in Atlanta — a project that finally was 
declared inexpedient. The desire of those con- 
cerned was to direct the energies of this move- 
ment into a more constructive and more perma- 
nent channel. 

At the mass meeting just referred to, a resolu- 
tion was adopted providing for the creation of a 
committee of twenty-five, whose duties should be 
to appear before the Mayor and General Council 
and urge the building of an auditorium; "also to 
suggest a financial plan by which this may be 
done." This provision was inserted because it 
was well known that the charter of the City pre- 
vented tl'-e execution of any contract that was to 
continue beyond the year in which it was made, 
and that some means woud have to be provided 



THE STAGE— NOAV AND THEN 175 

for financing the project before the City could take 
hold. The situation was such that it was neces- 
sary to form a corporation and to issue the bonds. 
Bonds in the sum of $175,000 were issued, payable 
in annual installments of $25,000. The bonds were 
sold to an insurance compan}^ and the money was 
paid over as the building progressed and the City 
assumed the contracts. The building was erected 
under the supervision of the Building committee. 
From the first the City officials were in thorough 
sympathy with the movement and gave all need- 
ful assurance of support. The Atlanta Auditor- 
ium-Armory Company was organized with a cap- 
ital of $75,000, the date of organization being Feb. 
7, 1907. James R. G-ray was elected president, 
John E. Murphy, vice-president, Walter G. Coop- 
er, secretary, Eobert F. Maddox, treasurer, the 
board of directors consisting of these gentlemen 
with Clark Howell, Asa G. Candler, J. W. English, 
C. L. Anderson, W. L. Peel, C. E. Caverly, J. J. 
Spalding, Wilmer L. Moore, Eobert S. Wessels, 
P. S. Arkwright, Sam D. Jones, F. J. Paxon, J. K. 
Orr, E. R. DuBose, John Temple Graves, Burton 
Smith, Frank Hawkins, W. T. Gentry, J. Wiley 
Pope, David WoodAvard and George W. Sciple. A 
building committee was named, consisting of John 
E. Murphj^, chairman ; W. L. Peel, James R. Gray, 
Clifford L. Anderson and Robert S. AVessels. The 
City Council created a co-operative committee con- 
sisting of F. A. Quillian, chairman; E. E. Pom- 
eroy, E. W. Martin, W. A. Hancock and E. C. Pet- 
ers, which served during the first year. The com- 
mittee for the second vear consisted of E. E. Pom- 



176 ATLANTA 

eioy, cliairman ; Martin F. Amorous, Charles M.. 
Roberts, Aldine Chambers and Eugene Dodd. 

A lot two hundred by three hundred feet was 
purchased as the site of the auditorium, at a cost 
of about $60,000, and the structure was erected, 
thereon at a total outlay of approximately $190,- 
000. The building has a seating capacity of ap- 
proximately eight thousand. The center of the 
auditorium is an eliptical arena ninety feet wide 
and one hundred and fifty feet long, surrounded by 
a series of boxes, back of which is the dress circle. 
Above are two spacious balconies, reached by in- 
clines instead of by steps. At the eastern end of 
the building is the organ loft, where is housed the 
magnificent $50,000 instrument. 

The ))uilding is also provided with a small con- 
vention hall, seventy-five by seventy-eight feet, 
with a twenty-nine-foot ceiling. Here smaller con- 
ventions and similar gatherings are held, the seat- 
ing capacity being about nine hundred. This hall 
was "christened" on January 15, 1909, with a 
"possum supper" to President Taft, who was the 
guest of the City on that date. Incidentally, Pres- 
ident Taft liked nothing better than a visit to 
Georgia. He spent his vacation in this State upon 
a number of occasions, and won many friends and 
admirers by his affable manner and genial tem- 
perament. 

In financing the auditorium at a time of general 
depression, the committee encounterd numerous 
obstacles, but every difficulty was overcome be- 
cause of the unanimity with which the public spir- 
ited citizens of Atlanta wrought upon the project. 
It is doubtful if there is another building any- 



THE STAGE— NOW AND THEN 177 

where in the country that represents so much in 
spaciousness, in permanency, in convenience and 
in architectural detail, and so little in financial out- 
lay. This result was due in part to the conditions 
above referred to, but another factor was repre- 
sented in the skill and intelligence displayed by 
the building committee. This committee got full 
value, ''pressed down and running over," for 
every dollar expended. 

It is a far cry from this great auditorium to At- 
lanta's first important house of entertainment, but 
the journey is not without interest. Indeed, a mere 
reference to the DeGive Theatre is enough to start 
the old-time theatrical patron upon a voyage of 
delightful reminiscence. "Ah, those were the 
days!" Names to conjure with appeared on the 
boards then — Joe Jefferson, Booth and Barrett, 
Sol Smith Kussell, John T. Raymond, Fannie 
Davenport, Sarah Bernhardt, Ezra Kendell, Rich- 
ard Mansfield, J. K. Emmett, Denman Thompson, 
Frederick Warde, Julia Marlowe, Bob Slavin, Ada 
Gray, Annie Pixley, Louis James, Madam Rhea, 
James 'Neill, Thomas W. Keene, Cora Van Tas- 
sell, Roland Reed, Lewis Morrison, Henry Dixie, 
Emma Abbott, Scott Thornton, Atlanta's own 
gifted tragedian, and a host of others, including 
those gifted fun-makers, Al G. Fields, Lew Dock- 
stader, Y. H. Primrose, Billy Van, James A. 
Decker, James Gorman, Bob Slavin, Milt Barlow, 
George Wilson and W. S. Cleveland. Bill Hart, 
too, was here in those early days, but needless to 
say, he wasn't a ''movie" star at that time. 

While the DeGive Theatre was not the first 
playhouse, it having been preceded by the old 



178 ATLANTA 

Atheneum, it was the first pretentious place of 
aimisement and for twenty-five years occupied a 
place in the life of the people such as has been 
occupied by no other, before or since. During 
nearly all these years, it was the center around 
which revolved the life of Atlanta, insofar as 
things theatrical were concerned. Here the great- 
est interpreters of the drama were seen; here 
the world's most distinguished fun-makers held 
forth, and here the most famous lecturers upon 
the platform were heard. 

This playhouse, which stood on Marietta Street 
and extended back to the Grant Building, was 
erected by Laurent DeGive. It occupied four 
lots. The first three fronting twenty-five feet 
each on Marietta Street, were purchased by Mr. 
DeGive in 1862 for $700 each— a total of $2,100. 
Later a fourth lot was purchased for $5,000. 

After this pioneer house had been operated for 
a time as the DeGive Theatre, it was remodeled 
and the name was changed to the DeGive Opera 
House, the idea being that ''Opera House" was 
more dignified and more suggestive of a great 
playhouse than the term ''theatre." This name 
remained until the opening of the great Cotton 
Exposition in 1881, when it was decided that 
"The Columbia" would appeal more to the great 
exposition throngs, and it was so named. This 
title remained until the theatre was leased by 
Jake Wells, and then it became "The Bijou." 
Under this name it continued to furnish enter- 
tainment to the people of Atlanta until a couple 
of years ago, Avlien it finally passed forever — going 
to make room for an office building. MeanM^hile, 



THE STAGE— NOW AND THEN 179 

however, numerous other places of amusement 
had come into being, including a nmch finer the- 
atre for the presentation of the best in the spoken 
drama, and the loss of the pioneer structure was 
notable only for sentimental reasons. 

But what a wealth of sentiment clustered about 
the ancient pile! Students of the public schools 
graduated there. As they started out in life, 
the boys took their sweethearts there ; then their 
wives; then their children. Friends entertained 
friends there, orators discussed great issues there, 
and there the greatest actors that ever trod the 
boards were seen in the prime of their powers. 
Lucian York, now manager for M. Rich & Brothers, 
stood at the door of the old theatre for many 
years, coming in intimate contact with the great 
of the stage, and accumulating a wealth of infor- 
mation about plays and players such as is pos- 
sessed by few men. He kept notes in a little red 
book, and when this first little book was filled, 
he got another, and there the record of many a 
great performance was put dowTi. From this 
record one learns that Sarah Bernhardt played 
"La Tosca," that Frank Bangs appeared in ''The 
Silver King," and that Fanny Davenport starred 
in ''Cleopatra" and in "Tosca." WiUiam H. 
Crane and Stuart Robson appeared in "Merry 
Wives of AVindsor," "Henrietta" and "A Com- 
edv of Errors." Joe Jefferson appeared in Rip 
Van Winkle and "The Rivals." 

Both Edwin Booth and Lawrence Barrett ap- 
peared at this old theatre, separately and to- 
gether, presenting when together "Hamlet," 
"Caesar," and "Othello." But the list of those 



180 ATLANTA 

who walked the boards of this old-time theatre 
and caused laughter and applause and tears and 
sighs, according to the humor of the play, might 
be extended endlessly. Atlanta came in these 
times to rank as one of the great theatrical cen- 
ters of the South, and it obtained the best then, 
as it does now. Practically all the great plays 
and players, starting from New York for New 
Orleans, passed through this City and the people 
here had the opportunity to see and to enjoy the 
best. 

As a matter of course, many amusing incidents 
occurred during the quarter of a century that 
this theatre formed the chief center of attraction 
to Atlanta theatre patrons, and it is well that 
some of these incidents were preserved. Joe 
Stewart, who was stage carpenter at the old the- 
atre for many years, possessed an observant eye, 
plus a retentive memory, and he is responsible 
for the fact that some of the laughable incidents 
witnessed ''back stage" have been recorded. In 
an interview in the Atlanta Journal some years 
ago, he related how a crowd of stage hands, in- 
dignant at Richard Mansfield because he made 
them place rubber on the bottom of their shoes 
so that the clatter of their feet might not get 
upon his nerves, made a combined assault upon 
that distinguished actor. These hands discovered 
a number of stuffed clubs, which had been left 
by a preceding company, and arming themselves 
with these dangerous-looking but harmless instru- 
ments, they "laid for" Mansfield, and when he 
came back between the acts they went at him 
hammer and tongs, pounding him from all sides. 



THE STAGE— NOW AND THEN 181 

He finally escaped to his dressing room, a greatly- 
outraged gentleman, but though he offered a re- 
ward of $100 for the identification of his assail- 
ants, no one claimed it and the culprits escaped. 
Continuing, Mr. Stewart said: 

' ' Mansfield was the greatest stickler for details 
I ever saw. He always went on the stage, just 
before time for the curtain, and set it over. Once 
I knew him to hold the curtain for thirty-two min- 
utes until I could get a certain sort of Champaigne 
glass that he held in his hand for about two sec- 
onds. On another occasion, the management 
wanted him to give a double bill made up of a part 
of 'Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde,' and a part of the 
'Parisian Romance.' He refused to mutilate the 
plays that way and said he would give all of them. 
And he did. The curtain went up at 8 and went 
down at 2 in the morning. But despite his oddi- 
ties he was one of the greatest actors of all time, 
and a man you got along with famously when you 
did just what he wanted. 

''Tom Kenne's production of 'Richard III' was 
almost broken up one time when an old woman 
from Darktown made her appearance upon the 
stage in the midst of a big scene. The ladies of 
the show had given out their washing and had 
cautioned the old woman to have it back on time. 
She was a little late and a little flustered, and 
when she got through the stage door she walked 
right out before the audience, the clothes-basket 
in her arms. 'Lady,' she said, 'here's yo' wash- 
in', and handed it to the queen or the duchess, 
or whoever it was. 



182 ATLANTA 

* ' Charley Osgood, advance agent for the ' Coun- 
try Circus,' the first show ever put on here by 
Klaw and Erlanger, tried a joke on us that had 
a boomer-rang effect. Charley told us they were 
going to have a lot of elephants with the show 
and that the stage would need special bracing. 
We put so many braces under it that an engine 
could have run across the boards without shak- 
ing it, then we waited for the elephants. They 
came along all right, paper-mache, so heavy that 
you couldn't lift more than two of them with 
one hand. 

'* 'So those are the elephants, are they, Buddy?' 
said Mr. DeGive, talking to me. ' Well, we '11 see. ' 
And we did. He presented Charley with a bill 
for $500 for extra expenses, and that was the 
last stage he ever had braced for those paper- 
mache elephants. 

''One of the biggest productions ever put on 
here was 'Cleopatra' with Fannie Davenport in 
the principal part. Pine trees were fixed on 
blocks so that they could be moved back and forth, 
giving the idea of swaying. We had a lot of ne- 
groes to work the trees, and their swaying was 
to be one of the most realistic parts of the big 
storm scene. But we hadn't counted on the noise 
the big storm would make and what effect it 
would have on the hired help. The thunder 
started rolling, the lightning flashing, and the rain 
falling, and every one of the negroes left right 
away. They didn't hesitate a minute. They just 
left, and throughout the storm those pine trees 
stood as though no wind in the world could shake 
them." 



THE STAGE— NOW AND THEN 183 

This theatre remained the only one of any im- 
portance in the City until 1891, when the Edge- 
wood Avenue Theatre was built by Barney Klei- 
baker. Others were erected from time to time 
until the climax was reached a couple of years 
ago with the erection of the Howard, the most 
beautiful picture theatre in the South and one 
that is not surpassed anywhere for the charm 
of its lighting effects and the convenience of 
arrangement. 

The introduction of the motion picture indus- 
try gave a tremendous impetus to the work of 
theatre building, and, as stated elsewhere, At- 
lanta has many houses devoted to this art, a num- 
ber of them being exceptionally attractive. 

Atlanta has a wonderfully active Little Theatre 
Guild, an organization whose purpose is **to give 
drama with a literary qualit^^ acted and staged 
with sincerity and artistic simplicity — ^in short, to 
study the conmiunity that its theatre may express 
its ideals; to make of the theatre a place where 
good drama, wholesome amusements and intelli- 
gent recreation may be enjoyed; a place where 
may be seen those plays seldom seen on the com- 
mercial stage — and finally to encourage the cre- 
ative spirit of our own people." 

The membership of this organization embraces 
plaj^vrights, scene designers and painters, ama- 
teur actors and costume creators, and lovers of 
the dramatic art. At present the productions 
are being given on a small stage in Cable Hall. 
With only a fifteen foot proscenium opening and 
fifteen foot depth this small stage lends itself 
admirably to the type of plays usually produced 
by Little Theatres. Among the one act plays 



184 ATLANTA 

already produced upon this stage before large 
and appreciative audiences are "The Pot Boiler*' 
by Alice Gerstenberger, ''Ruby Red" by Clar- 
ence Stratton, "Boccaccio's Untold Tale" by 
Harry Kemp, "The Maker of Dreams" by Oli- 
phant Down, "The Unseen" by Alice Gersten- 
berg, and two plays by a local playwright, Mr. 
Parker A. Hord, "The End of Summer" and "A 
Chance of a Lifetime." 

The plans of this organization for the future 
call for their own permanent Community The- 
atre which will have the backing of the municipal 
authorities and civic clubs. In such an art build- 
ing it is proposed to have rehearsal room, club 
rooms for the members, and a stage whose equip- 
ment will rank with the best in the country. 

The leader of this movement, Mrs. Earl Sher- 
wood Jackson, has been a prominent figure in 
Atlanta 's dramatic and artistic world for the past 
ten years. Among the splendid things which 
she has sponsored and developed is the beautiful 
Municipal Christmas Festival, ' ' The Light of the 
World." This pageant-drama, combining music, 
pantomine and spoken lines, together with tab- 
leaux, seeks to present the story of the Nativity 
in such a way that it will give the true spirit of 
the Christmas message "Peace on earth — good 
will toward men." 

This Nativity Play, an annual event in Atlanta, 
is presented on the stage of the City Auditorium. 
There are no tickets sold and no reserved seats 
-except for inmates of the charity institutions and 
wounded soldiers. The production was first 
sponsored by the Atlanta Woman's Club when 



THE STAGE— NOW AND THEN 185 

Mrs. Jackson was chairman of drama and page- 
antry. The first performance was given in 1916, 
a little pantomine drama ' ' The Gift, ' ' written by 
Mrs. Jackson and produced by her. Thousands 
were turned away from this simple production 
which was made possible by voluntary subscrip- 
tions. There were incessant demands for a sec- 
ond production, but only one performance was 
given. The next year a larger and more spec- 
tacular production called ''The Vision" was 
written and staged by Mrs. Jackson at the Citj- 
Auditorium and also, by request, was presented 
at the dedication of the Camp Gordon Liberty 
Theatre. 

Last year the full co-operation of the City Offi- 
cials was secured. Financed entirely by appro- 
priation from City Council, ''The Light of the 
World" — a stupendous drama of the Nativity 
was written and produced. This production re- 
quired nearly two hundred participants, as well 
as a large augmented chorus. By well known 
critics it is declared to rank with the Oberammer- 
gau production in its sublimity, costuming and 
staging and briUiant lighting effects. Unlike the 
Oberammergau play, the names of the actors do 
not appear upon the program, but every effort 
is made to submerge the personalities of the per- 
formers in the characters they are interpreting. 
The personnel of the players is recruited from 
every walk of life — city officials, society matrons, 
bank clerks, ministers, school children and work- 
ing girls. Busy men of affairs prominent in the 
financial world take a keen interest in their minor 
parts as Shepherds or men of Israel. 



186 ATLANTA 

At Christmas every year this play is produced 
and Atlanta is earning the name of the '^Chirst- 
mas City," whose welcome is extended alike to 
the stranger within and the wanderer without her 
gates. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Places of Renown 

THE vigor of Atlanta's citizenship may be 
accounted for in a measure by the fact 
that abundant provision has been made 
for taking care of the physical being. At- 
lantans are not too busy to play, and the enthu- 
siasm with which they enter into the enjoyment 
of sundry forms of exercise is contagious. 

Golf is the outstanding mode of recreation, and 
here the game has developed not only a multitude 
of enthusiasts, but a number of players of inter- 
national reputation. There is Miss Alexa Stir- 
ling, three times national woman's champion; 
Bobby Jones, known wherever golfers congregate, 
and Perry Adair, another whose name is a house- 
hold word among devotees of the sport. In addi- 
tion to these brilliant and famous stars, there are 
any number of skillful players. And following 
in their wake is a long line of performers, some 
of whom merely knock the ball about, but all of 
whom are fired by boundless enthusiasm for the 
game. 

In Atlanta, golf is strictly a democratic insti- 
tution, "going democratic when municipal golf 
links were opened," as one writer has expressed 
it, and here the game has its devotees among all 
classes. 

Atlanta has six golf clubs, with several courses 
that rank among the best. The East Lake course 
is credited with being the finest in the South and 



188 ATLANTA 

among the ten best in the United States. Here 
have been staged a number of brilliant champion- 
ship tournaments which attracted the best players 
in the game. East Lake is the country home of 
the Atlanta Athletic Club, and is a most delight- 
ful place. 

The Druid Hills Golf Club has a remarkably 
beautiful course, as has the Capital City Country 
Club. Then there is the Ansley Park Golf Club 
and the Ingleside Country Club, with exception- 
ally fine courses of nine holes each. Another ex- 
cellent course is that of the West End Golf Club. 
The new municipal course, named in honor of 
Mayor Key, who is an enthusiastic advocate of 
recreation for all the people, naturally is one of 
the most popular in the City. Here men and wo- 
men of all ages, as well as boys and girls, are 
seen, all intent upon putting the ball across with 
the minimum number of strokes. 

This tremendous increase in golf enthusiasm, 
and in the number of places where the enthu- 
siasm may be spent, is of comparatively recent 
origin. In the early nineties there was but one 
club, the members of which were objects of more 
or less curiosity — and no little derision — as they 
tried to coax the tiny ball to do their bidding. 
This early course was in Piedmont Park, where 
a tremendous transformation has been brought 
about. No corporals guard follows the ball today, 
but companies and battalions go out to slam it 
hither and yon upon this splendid municipal 
course. 

A mighty asset to Atlanta, is this park — the 
great recreational center of the City, In addi- 



PLACES OF RENOWN 189 

tion to golf, one sees scores of white-clad figures 
engaged in tennis, while other scores engage in the 
great American game of baseball. ^Meanwhile 
multitudes of swimmers enjoy the limpid waters 
of the beautiful lake, or indulge in boating. A 
more animated scene than is presented here on 
summer afternoons would be difficult to imagine. 

Grant Park also affords many recreational fea- 
tures, chief of which is swimming, but there are 
many other attractions, including the **Zoo," the 
wonderful Cyclorama, showing the ''Battle" of 
Atlanta, the numerous war relics, and the native 
beauty of the park itself. 

Lakewood, the home of the Southeastern Fair, 
is an amusement resort, where boating and bath- 
ing and all the other forms of entertainment may 
be enjoyed. Across the way is an Ostrich Farm, 
said to be the largest East of the Rockies. 

Ponce de Leon Park is another beautiful recre- 
ational center, with swimming, boating, etc., and 
there are many other delightful places, including 
Ansley Park, Lucile Park, Druid Hill, Heard 
Park, Hillyer Park, Howell Park, Joyner Park, 
Maddox Park, Mims Park, Mozeley Park, Persh- 
ing Park, and any number of playgrounds where 
children may make merry and enjoy themselves 
to their hearts content. 

At a distance of sixteen miles, is Stone Moun- 
tain, one of the wonders of the world, reached 
either by train, street car or by automobile over 
an excellent road. This mountain is plainly vis- 
ible from Atlanta, and its changing aspects, with 
the varying weather conditions, is an unfailing 
source of interest. Some days, when smoke from 



190 ATLANTA 

far-off factories floats above its mighty bulk, it 
is suggestive of that great Italian volcano which 
long since buried Pompii and Herculanium — an 
illusion that is heightened by the great patches of 
bare granite appearing between the ragged 
patches of green. Again, when the atmosphere 
is damp, as after a rain, it is deep blue, like the 
ocean, not a single scar appearing. 

Rainbows seem to have a fondness for this 
mountain, too, and four times within the past 
few weeks I have seen it arched by these marvel- 
ous formations of color, as the sun was sinking 
into the West and pointing its rays at the clouds 
above the mountain. Again, the haze gathers and 
slowly obliterates the towering pile of granite, as 
though it were but a picture upon a slate, and it 
seems to be among the things missing. But pres- 
ently the haze disappears, and there it is, as it 
has been through countless ages. 

One of the theories which has been advanced 
to account for this immense mountain of stone, 
is that it was a wanderer through space — a great 
tramp of the ethereal deep — until it came within 
the influence of the earth, and was drawn down 
by the irresistible force of gravity. A fascinating 
idea, this, but one which no tangible evidence 
supports. However, if it is true, then the old 
earth received one of its severest jolts when the 
impact occurred, and the mountain buried itself 
deep into the crumbling crust of the earth. 

As a matter of course, romance has woven 
its spell about the mountain. Before the coming 
of the white man it was a rendesvous and land- 
mark for the Indian, and in the long ago first- 



PLACES OF RENOWN 191 

settlers used to repeat legendary tales of 
Indian maidens leaping from the sheer side of 
the great granite pile, falling mute and still at 
the base, tragic offerings for the favor of the 
great spirit. Here, too, sacrifices were made to 
the Sun God, and from here the warriors went 
forth upon their conquests. 

The first State Fair held in this part of Geor- 
gia was at Stone Mountain in 1846, being the 
outcome of a discussion between John W. Graves 
and Mark A. Cooper, a Newton County planter 
and a Cass County manufacturer, who met on 
a train in 1844 while enroute to Greensboro, Ga., 
to attend a sale of slaves. The discussion related 
to methods of advertising to the world the advan- 
tages of the mountain section of Georgia, and 
the result was that these gentlemen called a meet- 
ing of prominent citizens to be held at Stone 
Mountain, where Mr. Graves owned the land upon 
which was an inn. This meeting was held on 
August 1, 1846, and was attended by sixty-one 
men who were representative of the progressive 
spirit of the State. They organized the South- 
ern Central Agricultural Society and contributed 
one dollar each toward a fund for holding a 
fair. This movement led to a very modest exhi- 
bition the first year, but interest grew and the 
fair held the following year was quite a success 
— though still very small. By 1849, however, the 
enterprise gained large proportions for that 
period, and attracted immense crowds — due in 
part to the presence of Barnum's circus. 

The tremendous success of this fair had the 
effect of raising a large and interesting question 



192 ATLANTA 

mark in the new City of Atlanta. ' ' Why should- 
n't we have this fair?'^ those progressive citizens 
asked, and straightway they went after it. They 
captured it, too, and the exhibition of 1850 was 
held in this City. 

To automobile owners — and from the number 
on the streets one might well imagine that this 
term includes practically the whole adult popula- 
tion — there is an abundance of recreational possi- 
bilities open upon the hills and in the valleys, 
which stretch far and wide. Splendidly paved 
highways extend in all directions from Atlanta 
and there are any number of interesting and pic- 
turesque places where one may go with friends 
and enjoy such delights as automobiling affords 
when at its best. 

In addition to the parks, places of interest in 
Atlanta and its immediate vicinity, include the 
Federal Penitentiary, one of the largest and most 
noted prisons operated by the Government and 
one which has housed many distinguished indi- 
viduals. A recent guest was Eugene V. Debs 
who, as these lines are written, is publishing a 
series of articles based upon his experiences with- 
in its walls. Another, who has loeen in the lime- 
light recently, ^as Charles W. Morse. Many 
others of more or less note have spent months or 
years here, and there are associations enough to 
make it a place of unfailing interest. 

The Government also maintains a pretentious 
military establishment here. Fort McPherson, 
which is not to be confused with the short-lived 
establishments that sprang up during the World 
War. It is an old and permanent institution. 



PLACES OF RENOWN 193 

The Confederate Soldiers' Home is another 
point of interest, where one, while standing upon 
the very ground over which the contending 
forces fought long ago, may hear tales of that 
conflict from the lips of the men who were in it 
and of it. 

Near this home is the ''Bobby Burns Cottage," 
a replica of the home of the famous Scotch poet, 
where mementoes of an interesting nature repose 
and where vistors are welcomed. 

The State Capitol of Georgia is well worth a 
visit. Here is a museum containing many things 
of interest, and here also are many paintings of 
Georgia's distinguished sons. 

If one wishes to see the source of Atlanta's 
water supply, it is a run of only seven miles 
to the Chattahoochee River — ^historic stream the 
crossing of which by the forces of General Sher- 
man sealed the doom of Atlanta, then the "Cit- 
idal of the Confederacy." 

One of the familiar shrines of Atlanta is "The 
Wren's Nest," where the immortal ''Uncle 
Remus" was born and where his creator, the gen- 
tle and kindly Joel Chandler Harris, wove the 
wonderfully fanciful stories that won for him a 
lasting place in the warm and loving heart of 
childhood. 

Just the other day I read in The Saturday Eve- 
ning Post an article by H. H, Kohlsaat, the fam- 
ous newspaper publisher, in which he told of a 
visit made to Atlanta in 1895, on which occasion he 
went out to the home of Joel Chandler Harris in 
company with the author. When the two, the mod- 
est writer of children's tales, and the distinguish- 



194 ATLANTA 

ed head of a great Chicago newspaper, reached the 
gate, Mr. Harris said: 

''Mr. Kohlsaat, would you mind our going 
around to the kitchen gate? A little wren has 
built her nest in the gate post, so we boarded it 
up until the little birds are hatched. ' ' Thereupon 
the distinguished visitor went around to the "kit- 
chen gate;" going with a newer and higher appre- 
ciation of the fine heart qualities of the creator 
of "Uncle Remus." 

This incident of the wren's nest gave to the 
home of Joel Chandler Harris the name by which 
it is known today, and it also served to illumine 
the impulses of the heart and mind out of which 
came so much that was beautiful and which served 
to draw to him the love and affection of multi- 
tudes. 

The Wren's Nest is a modest frame cottage, 
well back from the road, on Gordon Street, West 
End, and it stands today just as it stood in the 
life-time of the author. The home is carefully 
preserved by the Joel Chandler Harris Memorial 
Association, and the room in which the author 
evolved his beautiful creations, stands just as he 
left it when he laid his pen aside and passed 
serenely into the city not made with hands. 

Joel Chandler Harris was a Georgian by birth 
and an Atlantan by selection. The place of his 
birth was Eatonton, a village in Putnam County, 
and the date was December 9, 1848. Until he 
was twelve years of age, his educational advan- 
tages were limited, but so great was his apprecia- 
tion of literature and his thirst for knowledge, 
that he absorbed everything that came within his 



PLACES OF RENOWN 195 

grasp. At the age of six, the trend of his re- 
markable mind was demonstrated when, finding a 
copy of the Vicar of Wakefield, he devoured it 
eagerly, and from this tender age until the end 
came after the production of his own master- 
pieces, he never ceased to enjoy the intellectual 
fruits of the centuries. 

Fate guided the boy Harris into an extraordi- 
nary channel at this age; leading him to become 
connected with a very remarkable newspaper 
called "The Countryman," which was then being 
published by a wealthy and cultured gentleman 
upon a nearby plantation — a remarkable enter- 
prise designed altogether for the gratification of 
a highly developed literary taste and in no sense 
a mercenary enterprise. This extraordinary 
journal was published by a Colonel Turner, a 
man of wise discrimination in the choice of books, 
and he had a very fine library. Young Harris 
speedily won his way into the affectionate regard 
of his employer, and the lad took full advantage 
of the opportunity to become acquainted with 
the masters of literature. 

After becoming somewhat versed in the meth- 
ods of men of letters, young Harris bravely under- 
took to create some literature of his own. These 
creations he contributed to ''The Countryman" 
under a fictitious name, but when the editor spoke 
in praise of the work, he made known the fact 
that he was the author, and thereafter he became 
a regular contributor to the paper, profiting by 
sueh suggestions, both as to reading and writing 
as were made by Colonel Turner. 



196 ATLANTA 

This delightful and congenial relationship con- 
tinued until the tide of civil conflict rolled into 
the South, when there came a somewhat sensa- 
tional interruption. General Sherman, who had 
captured and finally destroyed Atlanta, began to 
push his way to the sea, and it so happened that 
the territory surrounding the village of Eatonton 
was in the direct path of the invading army. Col- 
onel Turner left for more tranquil scenes, taking 
his family with him, but young Harris remained, 
being left in full charge of the splendid old man- 
sion and all its valuable contents, as well as the 
wide plantation of which it was the center. 

Shortly thereafter, General Slocum's corps 
swept across the place, the members helping 
themselves to such things as struck their fancy, 
but treating the youthful custodian with reason- 
able consideration. When the destructive tide 
had swept on, and Harris found his occupation 
as newspaper man gone with the passing of The 
Countryman, he began to look for another con- 
nection. Then began a peridd of wandering. He 
worked for a time in Macon, then in New Orleans, 
but was back in Georgia before a great while, 
working at Forsyth. Later he formed a connec- 
tion with the Savannah Morning News, which at 
that time was under the editorial direction of W. 
T. Thompson, a man who had won considerable 
reputation as a humorous writer, ''Major Jones' 
Courtship," being one of his productions. 

Here Harris found the atmosphere congenial, 
and he remained in Savannah until 1876, form- 
ing there the acquaintance which culminated in 
his marriage. The newspaper connection which 



PLACES OF RENOWN 197 

was maintained until his death, and in the occu- 
pancy of which he won lasting fame, was estab- 
lished in 1907, when Mr. Harris became a member 
of the staff of the Atlanta Constitution. His 
opportunity to demonstrate what he could do in 
the way of writing entertaining fiction, came 
quickly. Sam W. SmaU, who for a number of 
years was associated with Rev. Sam Jones, the 
famous Georgia evangelist, retired from the Con- 
stitution shortly after Harris joined it, and with 
his retirement the Constitution lost what had 
been a popular feature, ''Old Si," being a series 
of negro dialect sketches from the pen of Mr. 
Small. 

Casting about for a feature to take the place 
of "Old Si," the editor of the Constitution be- 
thought himself of the newcomer, Joel Chandler 
Harris, and made the suggestion that the latter 
try his hand at the production of something that 
would fit into the gap. Confronted with this 
opportunity — and challenge — Harris decided to 
prepare a series of articles based on the tales he 
had heard from the darkies upon the old Turner 
plantation, and with this decision was born 
"Uncle Remus." 

It is seldom in the history of literary endeavor 
that a hit so instantaneous as that made by the 
"Uncle Remus" tales is recorded. The sketches 
met instant and widespread favor, and before the 
author realized that he had struck a popular 
chord, his works were attracting widespread at- 
tention both in this country and in Europe. Then 
began the production of his works in book form. 
''Nights With Uncle Remus" appeared in 1883, 



198 ATLANTA 

to be quickly followed by "Mingo and Other 
Sketches in Black and White." "Free Joe and 
Other Sketches" came in 1887, and from then on 
until the day of his death, the literary produc- 
tions of this remarkably talented writer were in 
great demand. He developed a large following 
in Europe as well as in America, and nearly all 
of his books were reprinted in England. 

The visit of Mr. Kohlsaat at the time he be- 
came the guest of Mr. Harris at Wren's Nest, 
recalls an interesting incident in the history of 
Atlanta, connected with a visit to the City by 
President William McKinley. When Mr. Kohlsaat 
was in Atlanta Mr. McKinley, then an aspirant 
for President, was visiting at Thomasville, Ga., 
where his presence served to bring numerous 
Republicans of national reputation, including 
Mark Hanna, to confer upon the political situa- 
tion. This visit also brought the President-to-be 
in contact with a number of leading Democrats 
of Georgia, and some warm personal attachments 
were formed. Then, when Mr. McKinley became 
President of the United States, there was a very 
general desire to have him visit this City, which 
he did in 1898. 

A "Peace Jubilee" banquet, celebrating the 
close of the Spanish- American war in 1898, was 
made the vehicle for bringing the President to 
Atlanta, where he was shown the attentions due 
one of his high station. But nothing of an un- 
usual nature characterized the event until the 
President appeared before the Legislature by 
special invitation, and there made his memorable 
statement concerning the duty of the United 



PLACES OF RENOWN 199 

States Government to take care of the graves of 
the Confederate dead. This remarkable, yet 
wholly sympathetic utterance, was totally unex- 
pected by the great mass of listeners, and it was 
the occasion of a tremendous outburst of ap- 
plause. As the significance of the remarks be- 
came more apparent, the demonstration devel- 
oped into an ovation that became an uproar, and 
so deeply were many veterans of the Confederacy 
moved that tears coursed down their faces. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Elements of Greatness 

IN seeking what might be termed an air-plane 
view of Atlanta as it is today, one of the ways 
to get quick results is to visit the Chamber of 
Commerce, where a great store of condensed 
information is on file, and where there is a char- 
acteristic eagerness to convey this information 
to the visitor. Here, by rapid fire methods, one 
learns : 

That Atlanta is the financial center and dis- 
tributing point of the Southeast; that it is the 
leading city of the South in building construc- 
tion; that it is the convention city of the South, 
and that it leads the automobile industry in the 
Southern states. 

One is also reminded that Atlanta is the one 
city in the South which supports an annual sea- 
son of the Metropolitan Grand Opera, and that 
it is the Southeastern center for most of the gov- 
ernment's activities; that it is the film distribu- 
ting headquarters for the Southeast; is head- 
quarters of the Southern Division of the Red 
Cross; is Southeastern headquarters for rail- 
roads, telegraph and telephone companies, insur- 
ance underM^riters, United States Public Health 
Service, Federal Board for Vocational Educa- 
tion, Fourth Corps Area of United States Army, 
'*and scores of other organizations." 

The Georgia mules is famed throughout the 
world, both for its ability to kick high and hard, 



ELEMENTS OF GREATNESS 201 

and to do a real job, whether in front of a truck 
or plow, and one learns here that Atlanta is the 
second largest mule market in the country. 

This word ''largest" becomes familiar as the 
assets of Atlanta are enumerated. It is the larg- 
est manufacturer of syrups for making "soft" 
drinks to be found in the world. This is cover- 
ing considerable territory, but the facts sustain 
the claim. Atlanta entered the soft drink indus- 
industry when that industry was the merest in- 
fant, and, taking the leadership then, it has held 
it ever since, in spite of the fact that it is well 
within what used to be the mint-julep circuit. 

Advertising, that modern art, also plays a con- 
spicuous part in the life of Atlanta, and one see- 
ing the great amount of national advertising 
flowing from this City, is quite prepared for the 
statement that it is the largest advertising cen- 
ter south of Philadelphia. More than $8,000,000 
a year is expended through Atlanta agencies for 
newspaper, magazine and other advertising space, 
much of this going to exploit Atlanta products. 

Other claims made for Atlanta, all based upon 
facts that have been carefully compiled by the 
Chamber of Commerce, are set forth as follows: 

The largest manufacturing and distributing 
center for ploAvs, farm tools and agricultural im- 
plements in the South. 

The South 's manufacturer of ornamental terra 
cotta. 

The center of the photo-engraving industry of 
the South. 

The largest manufacturer of market and pack- 
ing house coolers in the South. 



202 ATLANTA 

One of the largest manufacturers of furniture 
in the South. 

The largest manufacturer of mattresses in the 
South. 

One of the largest manufacturers and distribu- 
tors of high grade lumber and lumber products 
in the South, 

The recognized dental center of the South. 

Southeastern headquarters for window and 
plate glass. 

The largest manufacturer of high grade candies 
in the South. 

Headquarters of the largest ice manufacturing 
concern in the world. 

The largest distributor of office furniture and 
commercial stationery in the Southeast. 

When these facts have been recited, the inform- 
ant is not half through, and he continues: 

Atlanta has a large municipally-owned charity 
hospital. 

The model orthopedic hospital of the world for 
crippled children. 

The oldest and largest manufactory of disin- 
fectants and is the largest distributing point of 
disinfectants in the South. 

The trade of ninety thousand Southeastern 
merchants. 

Twenty banks and trust companies. 

Five hundred factories turning out more than 
1,000 different articles. 

An industrial pay-roll of $35,000,000 annually. 

The best hotels in the South— 44 of them, with 
more than 3,000 rooms. 



ELEMENTS OF GREATNESS 203 

Four hundred and twenty-five miles of water 
mains — tapped 32,900 times. 

Eighteen public parks and playgrounds, valued 
at $1,853,625. 

One hundred and sixteen educational institu- 
tions. 

An auditorium with a seating capacity of 8,000. 

The largest ostrich farm east of the Rocky 
Mountains. 

A good aeroplane landing field. 

A completely motorized fire department, with 
fifteen stations and 212 picked men. 

More miles of street railway per thousand pop- 
ulation than any other city in the country except 
Salt Lake City. 

The largest commercial printing plants in the 
South and has more publications than any other 
southern city. 

The only factory in the South making a full 
line of school and college stationery, envelopes, 
tablets and box stationery. 

The largest overhauled locomotive business in 
the South and the largest rebuilt car and loco- 
motive plants in the country, with pay-rolls ag- 
gregating half a million dollars annually. 

A large spring vehicle plant. 

The largest Southern plant for the manufac- 
ture of all kinds of industrial brushes. 

Headquarters and a large factory of the largest 
manufacturer of corrugated culverts in the South, 
and one of the five largest in the entire country. 

The pioneer packing plant of the South. 

The largest shoe manufacturer south of Vir- 
ginia. 



204 ATLANTA 

The largest mail order seed house in the coun- 
try. 

The largest secret order paraphernalia house 
in the South. 

More overall factories than any city in the 
South. 

Several good paint factories, and in addition 
to all these things, one is reminded: 

The value of Atlanta's manufactures is upward 
of $180,000,000 each year. 

That the Southeastern Fair, one of the largest 
and best agricultural and live stock exhibits in 
the country, was founded by the Chamber of 
Commerce and is held annually at its permanent 
home, Lakewood Park, in Atlanta. 

That the first casket factory in the South was 
built in Atlanta, and Atlanta makes more burial 
goods than any other southern city. 

That Atlanta leads in machinery for sharpen- 
ing safety razor blades. 

That Atlanta leads in the manufacture of 
ladies' and children's hats. 

That Atlanta leads in the manufacture of 
paper boxes, including corrugated shipping cases, 
and that — 

Atlanta 's foundries and machine shops are sur- 
passed by none. 

In the vast Southeast territory, Atlanta stands 
preeminent as a distributing center, its advan- 
tages from this standpoint having served to at- 
tract some five hundred sales agencies, repre- 
senting Northern and Eastern manufacturers and 
jobbers. Many of these carry large stocks in 
local warehouses, and the demand for office space 



ELEMENTS OF GREATNESS 205 

which they create is made manifest by the num- 
ber and magnitude of Atlanta's ''sky-scrapers/* 

Sherman likened Atlanta to an open hand, the 
palm representing the city and the fingers the 
five routes by which the city is connected with 
the Atlantic and the Gulf, and the tips the five 
port cities of Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, 
Mobile and New Orleans. Any one of these cities 
may be reached over-night, and the same is true 
of Memphis, Louisville, Cincinnati, and many 
other important points. 

Because of its geographical location, in the 
heart of a zone comprising one-half of the cotton 
producing aera, and /containing one- seventh of 
the population of the United States, Atlanta was 
chosen for the location of the Southeastern Re- 
gional Bank, and is the financial center of this 
vast territory. 

Atlanta's growth as a commercial and financial 
center has been so pronounced that it has served 
in a measure to overshadow its expansion along 
industrial lines, though its growth in this field of 
activity has been large and continuous. Its fac- 
tories give employment to over twenty-five thous- 
and workers, whose yearly wage exceeds $35,000,- 
000. 

The same influences that have made Atlanta 
great commercially and industrially and have 
given it its pre-eminence as a financial center, 
have served to make it a great live stock center 
— the largest in the South — with an annual bus- 
iness in excess of eighteen million dollars. 

It is in the appearance of its retail stores that 
Atlanta best deserves the title sometimes con- 



206 ATLANTA 

f erred upon it as ''The New York of the South," 
for there is a smartness about the big stores in 
the shopping district that i is (quite distinctive. 
The window displays are particularly striking. 
No where do I recall having seen displays more 
uniformly beautiful or better designed to catch 
and hold the eyes of the pedestrians. These 
window displays, striking in their number, are 
true indications of conditions in the stores 
proper. Goods are arranged in the most alluring 
fashion, and it is little wonder that Atlanta's 
fame as a shopping center is widespread or that 
many thousands of women, as well as men, re- 
siding in the surrounding territory flock to this 
City to gratify their desire for smart apparel, as 
well as for many other things. 

Visitors are multiplied annually by the week of 
grand opera, and almost daily by reason of con- 
ventions of one kind or another, and for the enter- 
tainment of these visitors, there are numerous 
amusements, not the least of which is a picture 
theatre, said to be the most beautiful in the coun- 
try, and really a very unusual house of entertain- 
ment. This theatre. The Howard, was erected at 
a cost said to approximate one million dollars, 
and it is delightfully arranged. The decorations 
are elaborate and in good taste, and the lighting 
effects are exceptionally beautiful. It is a dis- 
tinct asset to Atlanta. 

Other theatres include The Atlanta, where the 
best in spoken drama is presented; The Lyric 
and the Grand, vaudeville houses; the Forsyth, 
where stock productions appear, and numerous 
picture houses, another very attractive place be- 



ELEMENTS OF GREATNESS 207 

ing the Metropolitan. There are thirteen in all. 

Forty-odd hotels serve to care for the visitors, 
and a number are pretentious and well-appointed. 
The large, down-town hotels are the Ansley, the 
Winecoff, the Piedmont, the Aragon, the Kimball, 
the Cecil, and the Pickwick, while the Georgian 
Terrace, a large and fashionable structure, is lo- 
cated some blocks from the heart of the city. 
Others include the Adair, the Childs, the Cool- 
edge, the Exchange, the Hampton, the Empire, 
the Oliver, the Park, the Imperial, the Marion, 
the Martinique, the Northern, the Peachtree Inn, 
the Postal, the Princeton, the Scoville, the South- 
ern, the New Terminal and the Wilmot. 

The presence of so many hotels, however, is 
no guarantee that one will be able to find accom- 
modations upon reaching the city, and it is always 
wise to make reservations. Many conventions 
mean many delegates, and hotels are crowded 
most of the time. It is a good place for one 
whose hobby is the collection of badges, for here 
they are seen in infinite variety; big badges, lit- 
tle badges, gaudy badges that cry aloud the mis- 
sion of the wearer, and modest badges that serve 
only to inform that here is another delegate. 
Noting these things one can but be impressed 
with the fact that President Paxon and Secretary 
Houser of the Atlanta Convention Bureau, are 
busy individuals, and that when they start after 
a meeting, that meeting is very likely to be held 
in Atlanta. An average of one convention a day 
might well be termed a regular Ty Cobb record. 

One may easily obtain many statistics in At- 
lanta, the boosters fairly oozing figures. For in- 



208 ATLANTA 

stance, the statement is made that there is space 
sufficient in the halls of the city to care for 30,000 
delegates at one sitting. The Auditorium, with 
a seating capacity of 8,000, heads the list of con- 
vention halls, and following in the train are doz- 
ens where gatherings may be held. All the big 
hotels have such meeting places, and all over the 
city are other halls that are available. 

Another interesting bit of information that one 
obtains from the statisticians is that Atlanta has 
forty-nine office buildings, operating a hundred 
and thirty-one elevators, and that these elevators 
carry 532,000 passengers a day, traveling mean- 
while a total distance of 783 miles. 

While quoting statistics, I would like to make 
some observations about the State of Georgia, 
which contributes so much to the greatness of 
Atlanta, but one is appalled when he faces the 
task of trying to convey an adequate conception 
of the commonwealth in a few words, especially 
when he is confronted with a statement like this, 
culled from a handsome book of 275 pages, pub- 
lished by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce: 

' ' The difficulties involved in an attempt to pre- 
sent within the compass of this book the agricul- 
tural potentialities of Georgia would be appre- 
ciated by any one who tried to place the Atlantic 
Ocean in a barrel with the aid of a teacup." 

Georgia furnishes a theme that has inspired 
poets to sing their warmest praises; its lure has 
drawn bold and adventurous spirits from all 
parts of the world, and its boundless resources 
have formed the basis of fortunes such as poets 



ELEMENTS OF GREATNESS 209 

never dreamed of nor mere dreamers quite at- 
tained. 

Frank L. Stanton, native poet, strums his lute 
in this fashion when Georgia is the theme: 

Queen of the richest Promised Land, 

Here's Georgia! 
Ringed and wreathed with a golden band. 

Here's Georgia! 
With a winnin' smile for her lovers true, 
Bright as light in her skies of blue. 
She's tellin' the country ''Howdy-do," 

Here's Georgia! 

Her tables creak with the plenty spread 

By Georgia; 
With Peace herself for to bless the bread 

For Georgia; 
The welcome word is the word we know: 
God's own land, where the good things grow; 
The Horn o' Plenty's the horn we blow 

In Georgia! 

That bold and adventurous spirit. Sir Richard 
Montgomery, who more than two centuries ago 
dreamed of establishing his Margravate of Azilla 
in Georgia, (a part of this territory having been 
granted him by the Lord Proprietors of the Caro- 
linas) described the land as "a most delightful 
country," a place "where the flowers bloomed 
earlier, the birds sang sweeter, the water was 
colder and purer, the air was always balmy, and 
winter was not^kijown." 

Mark Twain, that prince among prose poets, 
and sometimes humorist, went into ecstacies when 



210 ATLANTA 

he visited Georgia, pouring out the profound 
emotions of his heart in the following tribute to 
a great Georgia product: 

The true Georgia watermelon is above, apart 
and not to be mentioned with the common things 
of earth. It is one of the world's chief luxuries, 
being, by the grace of God, over all the fruits of 
the earth. When one has tasted it he knows what 
angels eat. It certainly was not a Georgia water- 
melon that Eve partook; We know it because she 
repented." 

Georgian's claim that one of the best descrip- 
tions of Georgia that has ever been penned, was 
produced by Dionysius, a distinguished citizen of 
Eome, who, writing many centuries ago, said: 

''I look upon that country as the best which 
stands least in need of foreign commodities. Now 
I am persuaded that Italy (substitute Geor- 
gia) enjoys this universal fertility beyond all 
countries in the world. For it contains a good 
deal of arable land, without wanting pastures and 
forests, and abounds, I may say, in delights and 
advantages. Unparalleled are their plains . . . 
which yield three crops a year, bringing to per- 
fection the winter, summer and autumnal grain 
. . .there are pastures for sheep, goats, horses and 
neat cattle; there are marsh grasses wet with 
dew, and the meadow grasses of the hills are 
gro\\m in untilled places. I can not help admiring 
the forests full of all kinds of trees, which sup- 
ply timber for ships and houses. All these ma- 
terials are ready at hand, for the coast is near, 
and there are manv rivers that water the land 



ELEMENTS OF GREATNESS 211 

and make easy the exchange of everything the 
country produces. 

"Hot water springs, also, have been discovered 
in many places, affording pleasant baths and 
cures for chronic sickness. There are mines of 
various sorts, plenty of beasts for hunting, and 
a variety of sea-fish, besides other things innum- 
erable, some useful and others worthy of admira- 
tion. But the most advantageous of all is the 
happy temper of the air at all seasons. So that 
neither the formation of the fruits nor the con- 
stitutions of the animals is in the least injured 
b^^ the excessive heat or cold." 

Had this ancient Roman made a tour of Geor- 
gia before penning these lines, he could not have 
written a more accurate description of its advan- 
tages, and Georgians believe that he had a vision 
of this commonwealth in mind when the glomng 
words were set down. 

Mark Twain paid eloquent tribute to the Geor- 
gia melon, but what pen can do justice to the Geor- 
gia peach! What poet is worthy to pay tribute 
to a fruit like this; a fruit whose delicate tints 
could be appled only by the grand old masters in 
the studio of Nature, and whose flavor represents 
the highest achievement of those who brew am- 
brosial concoctions in the same great workshop. 
It, too, has been the theme of poets, but it is doubt- 
ful if any bard has done it justice. (For the in- 
formation of those who acquire most of their 
education from the sport page, it might be ob- 
served that the Georgia peach here referred to 
grows on trees.) 



212 ATLANTA 

Poets and dreamers have not been the only- 
ones to sing the praises of Georgia. Not by any 
means. The hard-headed business man comes and 
sees and then goes to work with pencil and pad 
to prove to the world that here is the fairest and 
richest spot on the face of the globe. He will tell 
you that there is enough cypruss in Georgia to 
cover every house in New York City, and that if 
this were done, there would be enough left to 
manufacture a million barrells of 55 gallons capa- 
city each. Then, if egged on, he might tell you 
that Georgia produces enough of something to fill 
the barrels, too, but he is busy at the moment with 
the possibilities of the cypruss, and he will add 
that a cord and a half of this wood is capable of 
producing a ton of Kraft jgaper worth $70. What 
he means is that the paper making industry in 
Georgia affords abundant opportunities for prof- 
it, and in this he is eminently correct. 

Other timbers abound, hickory, pine and the 
like, forming the basis of many flourishing enter- 
prises. Georgia made chairs go to all parts of 
the country, as do vehicles, etc., and Georgia naval 
stores are found every^v^here that such things are 
in demand. "On one acre of Georgia soil," we 
are told in this connection, ' ' enough black walnut 
can be grown to manufacture more than a hun- 
dred pianos." To remove any doubt about where 
these pianos and other products might be dis- 
posed of, the informant goes on to say "Georgia 
occupies a stragetic position as regards the 
world's markets, commanding the West Indies 
and Central and South America, toward which 



ELEMENTS OF GREATNESS 213 

American trade is growing with special rapid- 
ity." 

The extent and variety of farm products grown 
in Georgia is truly amazing, and when one ob- 
serves the comparative ease with which these 
crops are produced, and the year-around condi- 
tions under which the farmer labors, it is to ex- 
perience a feeling of astonishment that men who 
till the soil will spend their time and energies in 
far less favored sections. Georgia has an abund- 
ance of room for farmers, and here they will find 
a wonderfully productive soil and climatic condi- 
tions which make for long life and happiness. 

Reference has been made to the watermelon 
and the peach, but it would be a grevious error 
to assume that these delicious products run the 
gaumet of Georgia's productivity in the matter 
of fruits. Georgia apples took first prize at the 
International Shippers' convention at Niagra 
Falls in 1916, and finer fruit is grown no where. 
Many other fruits are produced, and berries grow 
in infinite variety. The same is true of vegetables 
— a circumstance which has much to do with the 
lure of the bill of fare laid before one in Atlanta. 

Dairy farming, cattle raising, swine produc- 
tion, stock growdng; all these represent flourish- 
ing enterprises, as well as inviting fields for in- 
telligent endeavor. 

The farm products of Georgia run to the snug 
sum of something like three hundred and twenty- 
five million dollars a year, which, taken in con- 
nection with the products of factories, mills, 
mines and quarries, helps to explain in part the 



214 ATLANTA 

wonderful growth of Atlanta, Georgia's chief cen- 
ter of population. 

The Atlanta Motor Club is an organization of 
business men who have set themselves to the task 
of creating the largest and most active motoring 
organization in Dixie, and the end is virually as- 
sured because Atlantans refuse to recognize de- 
feat in anything they undertake. The club now 
boasts of having the best equipped touring bureau 
in the South, where exact information may be ob- 
tained concerning road conditions within an ap- 
proximate radius of 600 miles. A free towing and 
tire service is maintained for members and also a 
free legal department, together with many other 
beneficial agencies. 

There is always a buzz of activity around the 
headquarters at the Ansley Hotel, denoting a 
spirit of enthusiasm and real accomplishments. 

The organization is now planning the estab- 
lishment of the largest and most modern Tourist 
Camp in the South, and in this movement it is re- 
ceiving the co-operation of the City Government, 
the Southeastern Fair Association, the Civic 
Clubs, merchants and individuals generally. 
Strong support is being given the good roads 
movement, the organization working in co-opera- 
tion with the Georgia State Automobile Associa- 
tion and the Georgia Good Roads Association. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Spiritual a^b Civic Forces 

IX this City the ratio of churches to people is 
about 1 to 800 — figures which sustain fully At- 
lanta's claim to being a city of churches. 
Looking over the City from the tenth-story 
window by which I work I can see, in the narrow 
segment that comes within the range of vision, a 
total of fourteen church spires. In the same terri- 
tory I glimpse a total of thirteen industrial stacks. 
These are suggestive figures, though one might 
assume that there is little relationship between 
church spires and smoke stacks. Yet there is some- 
thing in such a ratio that is worth thinking about. 

Smoke-stacks signify a form of activity insep- 
arably associated with the material progress of 
a semi-industrial community. Church spires bear 
witness to the presence of spiritual forces with- 
out which no community, however great its ma- 
terial resources, may hope to become the dwelling 
place of a happy and contented people. 

Therefore, it is a great thing for a city when 
the Church ke^ps step with Commerce, with In- 
dustry and all the other forces which make for 
material progress. Such uniformity of develop- 
ment means that grace accompanies gain — a con- 
dition which jneans adequate consideration for all 
the diverse needs of a cosmopolitan center. 

This wholesome balance between the material 
and the spiritual carries its own message to the 
observant, showing that here is a heart with ten- 



216 ATLANTA 

drils as well as a purse with strings ; a soul with 
vision, as well as a corporal being with the 
strength to achieve. 

Where harmony of this kind exists, one does 
not need to inquire, he knows that provision is 
made for the aged and the infirm ; that here succor 
is found for the wi(low and the orphan; that all 
down the tragic, and sometimes sordid scale of 
human suffering, may be found agencies whose 
mission it is to minister. 

More than all else, it means a wholesome moral 
atmosphere; an atmosphere in which is a daily 
and hourly challenge to the best that is in the 
bounding heart of youth and the richest that is in 
the soul of the mature. 

So, it is an enviable distinction for any com- 
munity to be known as a "City of Churches," and 
still better when conditions justify a title so sug- 
gestive. 

Somewhere in this narrative attention has been 
called to the fact that following the exile of the 
people of Atlanta, the burning of their city and 
the final retirement of the Federal forces, there 
was an immediate influx of former residents, and 
that the churches were among the first agencies 
to apply themselves to the task of rehabilitation. 

General Sherman finished his works of destruc- 
tion and left a wrecked and smoking cit}^ behind 
him on November 16, 1864. On December 25 serv- 
ices were resumed by the congregation of the 
First Baj)tist Church. In quick succession other 
congregations took up their labors — Methodists, 
Presbyterians, Episcopaleans and others, and be- 
fore this first winter of Atlanta's desolation was 



SPIRITUAL AND CIVIC FORCES 217 

well over, the church had become a mighty factor 
ill the work of reconstruction. 

These early churches received their baptism of 
fire. During the years of the war they faced and 
shouldered bravely the appalling burdens im- 
posed by that tragic period. In works of mercy 
and of charity they were tireless and wrought 
miracles of a divine character in providing for 
those suffering from hunger and heartache and 
sickness of soul. Atlanta, during all that period 
in which suffering was the only certainty, dis- 
played a measure of faith and a degree of piety 
that was eloquent of the presence of great spir- 
itual forces. And when the tragic recess came, 
in which Atlantans were forced to leave their 
homes and firesides, these forces survived; wait- 
ing merely the lifting of the ban to leap again to 
the task of wholesome accomplishment; as the 
electric light, shut off for a moment, blazes forth 
when the switch is turned. 

Schooled in a furnace of this kind, it is not re- 
markable that the churches of Atlanta should 
have accomplished large things in these post-war 
days. The remarkable thing is that this heroic 
spirit has lived; has survived the passing of one 
great figure after another, with no dimunition of 
zeal and no contraction of vision. As a result, 
Atljanta's churches are famed for their qualities 
of leadership and for the liberality of the sup- 
port given all the great national and international 
agencies fostered by the several denominations. 
In SynodT^in Conference, in Convention, all over 
the South, one hears the remark, ^'See what At- 



218 ATLANTA 

lanta has done," and thus the challenge goes out, 
inspiring others to more earnest endeavor. 

Concrete evidence of the great value of a church 
of this character to a city is found in the growth 
of Atlanta as an educational center. Those who 
have in their keeping the destiny of schools and 
colleges and universities have discovered here an 
atmosphere that harmonizes with their ideals of 
that by which such institutions should be sur- 
rounded, .and as a consequence Atlanta has at- 
tracted and held a large number of these distinct- 
ly worth-while enterprises. 

In the number of churches, the Baptist lead, 
with a total of 100. Of this number there are 43 
for white and 57 for colored people. Among the 
latter there are two Antioch's, two Beulah's, two 
Friendship's and one Little Friendship, two Mt. 
Gilead's, two Mt. Pleasant 's, two Providences and 
one Sweet Home. 

The Methodists run the Baptists close in the 
number of churches, having a total of 35 white 
and 32 colored. The Presbyterians are third, 
with 22 white and 2 colored. Next come the 
Episcopalians with 12 white and 1 colored. Then 
the Christians with 10 white and no colored 
churches, after which the order is as follows: 

Congregationalists, 4 white and 2 colored ; Jew- 
ish, 5; Roman Catholic, 3 white and 1 colored; 
Pentacostal 2; Lutheran's 2; Christian Scientists 
2; Seventh Day Adventists 1; Free Methodists 
1; Greek 1; Latter Day Saints 1; Unitarian 1. 
Then there are five which rank as ''undenomina- 
tional. ' ' 



SPIEITUAL AND CIVIC FORCES 219 

Many beautiful charities are fostered by the 
churches and through these agencies the warm 
heart and the generous hand of a gracious people 
are made known to those in need of sympathy and 
assistance. This same spirit is made manifest 
through numerous other organizations. 

Those who fancy that the age of miracles ended 
when the immediate followers of the Divine Heal- 
er ceased from their labors centuries ago, will 
experience a §lad awakening if they will but visit 
the Scottish Rite Hospital for Crippled Children 
in the City of Atlanta. Not only so, but their 
hearts will be made to swell with abounding glad- 
ness because of the work being done in this in- 
stitution. 

In this place of amazing transformations, such 
miracles of healing are performed as almost to 
pass belief, and it is not surprising that its fame 
has spread to all parts of the country, just as the 
news of the gracious works of the divine Gali- 
lean was carried into far places. Neither is it 
surprising that institutions of a similar character 
are being established in many parts of the coun- 
try, all growing out of the 'splendid work that 
has been and is being done here. 

There is something in the condition of the 
crippled and misformed child that plumbs the 
depth of human sympathy as few other things 
can, and when it became known, that of the more 
than four hundred thousand crippled children in 
the United States, under fourteen years of age, 
over four thousand were living their unhappy ex- 
istence in the State of Georgia, it was most nat- 
ural that a great body of men such as compose 



220 ATLANTA 

the Scottish Rite Masons of Atlanta should have 
been stirred into activity. They met the challenge 
promptly, and on September 1, 1915, laid the 
foundation of the present splendid institution by 
opening two small cottages which had been con- 
verted for hospital uses. 

The results achieved from this small beginning, 
and the magnitude of the demands which arose 
once the fact became known that here the poor, 
misformed, unhappy child could be made whole 
and happy, necessitated immediate enlargement, 
and the program was steadily expanded until the 
new building of today became a fact in 1919. 

The hospital, which is beautifully situated upon 
a five-acre plot near Atlanta, has sixty beds, and 
is equipped with every conceivable agency for 
meeting the complex problems presented by mal- 
formations in children. The presiding genius is 
Dr. Michael Hoke, a surgeon of international 
fame, and assisting him is a corps of eminent 
specialists in the diseases of children. 

For admission into this remarkable institution, 
there is one fundamental rule — the patient must 
not be able to pay. There is no smoke about this 
flaming charity. Not a cent is exacted from any 
patient under any circumstances, which may ac- 
count in a measure for the richness with which its 
labors have been crowned. Outside of being in 
need and unable to pay, the only other require- 
ment for admission is that the patient be of nor- 
mal mentality and that the case offers some pos- 
sibility for improvement. Things set down as 
non-essential are religious creed, fraternal affil- 
iations, social standing and financial connections. 



SPIRITUAL AND CIVIC FORCES 221 

The work of this hospital wa^ graphicly and 
eloquently described by the late J. C. Greenfield, 
a distinguished Mason, who had watched its 
labors with the most intense interest. He said: 

''Come with me to the Scottish Rite Hospital 
for Crippled Children and I will show you many 
mysteries. One of these mysteries is also a resur- 
rection. A resurrection from a living death to 
a life of joy and usefulness; from years of help- 
lessness and possible pauperism to the certainty 
of health and self-sustaining citizenship. 

' ' I will show you the mystery of a horribly mis- 
shapen pair of feet changing under the deft hand 
of a skilled surgeon to a set of normal extrem- 
ities, and a pitiful, hobbling child converted to a 
romping, racing youngster fairly exuding the joy 
of living. 

''I mil show you the mystery of a distorted 
back, emerging gradually but surely from mis- 
shape to true shape ; from crookedness to straight- 
ness; from a curve to a line. 

''I will show you the mystery of a human be- 
ing; the home of the immortal soul; supposed to 
be created in the image of God Himself, coming 
to the hospital walking like a quadruped, and a 
few months later standing upright, looking his 
fellows in the face and out of the fullness of a 
grateful heart saying, 'This is the first time I 
ever stood erect.' 

"I will show you a mystery of a child that never 
walked at all. Stricken shortly after birth with 
that dreadful disease, infantile paralysis, it came 
to us apparently a hopeless case, and yet, after 
treatment, that same child left the hospital hand 



222 ATLANTA 

in hand with its mother, the only indication of 
her trouble being a slightly perceptible limp 
which will disappear with growth and the ap- 
proach of maturity." 

In support of this brief but lucid summary of 
the work being done at this hospital, is submitted 
numerous photographs of children, showing how 
those who had never walked save on all-fours 
were put upon their feet; how those whose limbs 
were twisted into almost impossible shapes, had 
been transformed into normal looking beings. 
Not the least remarkable feature about these 
photographs is the changes wrought in the facial 
expression of the little folks. Coming with twist- 
ed and deformed bodies, they had worn upon their 
faces the evidence of their affliction. Then came 
the changes in the little bodies, and smiles upon 
the lips! 

No sooner had the value of this wonderful work 
been demonstrated by the Scottish Eite Masons 
of Atlanta, than it attracted the attention of that 
great Masonic brotherhood known as the Shrine. 
Forrest Adair, Avho had been one of the most stal- 
wart champions and strongest supporters of the 
Atlanta Hospital, carried the glowing message 
to the national body, and this led to investigation. 
Investigation convinced the members of the 
Shrine that charitable impulses could be directed 
into no finer channel, and then was born a move- 
ment to establish similar institutions in various 
parts of the country. Once launched, the move- 
ment gained instant momentum and as these 
words are written plans have already been com- 
pleted for a number of these hospitals, and other 



SPIRITUAL AND CIVIC FORCES 223 

plans are being brought to maturity. Thus the 
tremendous benefits of a small institution launched 
in Atlanta a few years ago to meet a great need 
in a small way, is developing into a great national 
enterprise, and in a little while something definite 
and positive will be done in many quarters to 
meet the distressing problem presented by tens 
of thousands of little folks who had been without 
hope. 

The governing board of the pioneer institution 
in Atlanta consists of Thomas K. Glenn, presi- 
dent; Forrest Adair, vice-president; E. P. King, 
Treasurer ; Mrs. C. W. Wardlaw, secretary ; David 
Marx, Henry C. Heinz, Mrs. R. W. Davis and 
Mrs. Dowdell Brown. 

It is proper to say, before closing this brief 
summary of a great work, that when the Scottish 
Rite Body of Atlanta was struggling with the 
apparently overwhelming problem of providing 
adequate facilities for meeting the tremendous 
demands made upon the early institution, one de- 
voted member, Albert Steiner, helped materially 
in the solution of the difficulty by giving a contri- 
bution of $25,000. The Scottish Rite Body put 
up $40,000 and other sums were raised in various 
ways, the result being the splendid plant that was 
erected at a cost of about $160,000. 

The members of the Kiwanis Club, which is 
one of the livest of Atlanta's civic organizations, 
have voluntarily shouldered a responsibility that 
is to them as delightful as it is Aveighty, which is 
saying a good deal, for they have adopted as 
their own the Home of the Friendless. This is 
one of the most beautiful among the charities of 



224 ATLANTA 

the City, and the boundless enthusiasm which is 
a characteristic of the Kiwanian, surely could not 
lind a more useful outlet. 

This unusual and highly praiseworthy action* 
of the Atlanta Kiwanis Club in adopting a home 
for friendless children, was the result, not of pre- 
meditation, but of spontaneous response to an ob- 
vious need. The club members had been invited 
to visit the Home for Friendless Children and ta 
have their regular weekly luncheon there. They 
went, they saw, and were conquered. 

The home at that time was endeavoring to meet 
a very great need with resources that were pit- 
ifully small, and when the Kiwanians visioned 
the magnificient work that was being attempted 
and sensed the magnitude of its importance, they 
took up a subscription on the spot and raised the 
sum of ten thousand dollars. 

Having placed its shoulders to the wheel, the 
Kiwanians then decided to make a thorough job 
of it, and their next step was to completely trans- 
form the building in which the children were be- 
ing housed — and it was a wonderful transforma- 
tion, wrought in a wonderful way. The archi- 
tects, the builders, the plumbers, the steam fitters^ 
and all the others who had to do with modernizing 
the structure, were members of the Kiwanis Club, 
and the only profit they asked was the pleasure 
derived from being of service. Not a contractor 
but gave freely of his services. Nor did this fine 
burst of enthusiasm end here. Other Kiwanians 
came forward with equipment such as was needed, 
and when the work was done those friendless 
little folks were quick to realize that they had 











lM#- 



«, 



;ir'i' 






Courtesy of G. L. Miller & C( 
ANOTHER GROUP OP BUILDINGS FINANCED BY AN 
ATLANTA INSTITUTION 



SPIRITUAL AND CIVIC FORCES 225 

found some friends indeed. Their abode had been 
turned into a delightful home, suited in every 
way for the care of its inmates and for the pro- 
motion of their happiness. 

_ Having provided these home comforts for the 
little folks, the Kiwanians then began to do vari- 
ous and sundry things for their pleasure, provid- 
ing theater parties, automobile excursions and the 
like at frequent intervals and doing numerous 
other things to add to the joy of these bright- 
eyed wards. A great work these Kiwanians are 
doing and they are doing it with a fine high spirit. 

Clubs exist in Atlanta in infinite variety— bus- 
iness, recreational, social, fraternal, civic, relig- 
ious, professional, the number being swelled ma- 
terially by the numerous Greek letter societies 
connected with the educational institutions. 
Among these alone one finds ^ome two dozen 
organizations— Alpha Kappa Kappa, Alpha Tau 
Omega, Chi Phi, Delta Tau Delta, Kappa Psi, Phi 
Alpha Sigma, Phi Delta Theta, Pi Kappa Alpha, 
Pi Kappa Sigma, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Alpha 
Kappa Psi, Beta Theta Pi, Delta Sigma Phi, Kap- 
pa Alpha, Kappa Sigma, Phi Chi, Phi Epsilon 
Psi, Pi Kappa Phi, Psi Omega, Sigma Nu, Tau 
Epsilon Phi, etc. 

Many of these fraternities have homes of their 
own, and their members are surrounded by com- 
forts which help to lighten the tedium of bookish 
toil and, incidentally, to add to the joys of college 
life. 

In civic circles, the club representative of all 
clubs is ''The Presidents Club" of Atlanta. Thi5 
organization, one of the most useful in the city, 



226 ATLANTA 

was formed in June, 1915, growing out of a con- 
structive policy adopted by Mell R, Wilkinson, 
then president of the Chamber of Commerce. It 
was the custom of Mr. Wilkinson to call together 
the presidents of various civic organizations to 
discuss with him such problems as arose from 
time to time, and the beneficial results were such 
that a permanent organization of presidents was 
suggested by Earl H. Cone. Thereupon a meet- 
ing of the heads of a dozen or more organizations 
was held and, upon the purposes of the movement 
being outlined by F. J. Paxon, a permanent or- 
ganization was formed. In recognition of his 
distinguished service to the community, Mell R. 
Wilkinson was elected president for life. At this 
writing, F. J. Paxon is vice-president and W. 0. 
Foote, secretary. 

The growth of the Presidents Club was rapid, 
the practical value of some medium through 
which all organizations could be reached prompt- 
ly being recognized at once. Monthly meetings 
are held at which subjects of vital concern to the 
community are discussed. At this writing one of 
the activities of the organization concerns the en- 
larged use of Georgia products. It gives atten- 
tion to all matters concerning the progress of At- 
lanta and through it other organizations are 
reached promptly and effectively. 

Atlanta has a large, active and progressive 
Chamber of Commerce. Thoroughly organized 
for service, it is exercising a wide influence in the 
development of the community. The organization 
has attractive and well appointed quarters in the 
heart of the City. It issues a large amount of 



SPIRITUAL AND CIVIC FORCES 227 

carefully prepared literature setting forth the ad- 
vantages of Atlanta, and publishes a monthly 
magazine in which all worthy civic movements 
are fostered and which bristles with the progres- 
sive spirit of the community. A recent note- 
worthy achievement was the publication of a care- 
fully prepared survey showing the resources of 
the Atlanta Industrial District and pointing out 
what lines of industry could be located here to 
the greatest advantage. 

The president of the Chamber of Connnerce is 
W. 0. Foote, an energetic business man and a 
pioneer citizen who knows, and appreciates, the 
advantages of this city and who has the happy 
faculty of communicating to others his own enthu- 
siasm for the community. The secretary is B. 
S. Barker, the assistant secretary is J. E. Ad- 
dicks, and the editor of the magazine, ''The City 
Builder," is Gruy Guthridge. A trio of live and 
intelligent civic workers, they are rendering an 
important service in keeping Atlanta before the 
world. A Business Woman's Division is main- 
tained, being operated under the direction of Miss 
Mabel Kendrick. This division functions admir- 
ably in linking up the activities of the women with 
the great central organization. 

Housed in the same building with the older 
organization, is the Junior Chamber of Com- 
merce, a virile organization of young men, linked 
together for the common good. It is independent 
of the primary organization, but thoroughly co- 
operative, and, having a very large membership, 
is able to accomplish much of a constructive na- 
ture. The president is Eugene Oberdorfer and 



228 ATLANTA 

the secretary R. L. Troy, young men who put a 
vast amount of enthusiasm and intelligence into 
their work. 

One of the greatest agencies for the upbuilding 
of the city is the Atlanta Convention Bureau, F. 
J. Paxon, president, and Fred Houser secretary. 
As a result of its ceaseless activities, Atlanta has 
become preeminent as a convention city, as has 
been pointed out elsewhere in this work. Noth- 
ing less than a convention every day in the year 
satisfies this organization and it is instrumental 
in bringing tens of thousands of visitors to the 
city every year. The advertising value to the 
city of having many thousands of observant cit- 
izens from all parts of the country, entertained 
here, is enormous and it is one of the factors in 
the widespread fame enjoyed by Atlanta. The 
secretary of the Atlanta Convention Bureau, Fred 
Houser, a sort of human seismograph, having the 
ability to detect the first, far-off motions that pro- 
tend a convention of some sort, and the energy 
to be promptly on the ground with an invitation 
to hold said convention in Atlanta, together with 
a hundred reasons why it should be held here. 

Still another agency that is carrying the fame 
of Atlanta afar, and is performing a highly use- 
ful service in extending the borders of commerce, 
is the Foreign Trade Club, whose field is the 
world, and whose prime object is the increasing 
use of Atlanta products in far-off places. Opera- 
ting in connection with the Chamber of Com- 
merce, and under government supervision, it ob- 
tains and keeps on file much useful information 
relative to the needs of merchants, manufacturers 



SPIRITUAL AND CIVIC FORCES 229 

and consumers in foreign countries, and trade 
opportunities are brought constantly to the atten- 
tion of local manufacturers and exporters. 

The Atlanta Hotel Men's Association is a co- 
operative organization, assisting both the Cham- 
ber of Commerce and the Convention Bureau in 
popularizing Atlanta among visitors. It also fos- 
ters movements which make for the progress of 
the city and state, such as the production of things 
needful for the table, its classification, packing, 
etc. Meanwhile, it labors to maintain a high 
standard of efficiency among Atlanta hotels. The 
president is W. C. Royer; the secretary, Fred 
Houser. 

Merchants and Manufacturers of Atlanta are 
organized under the name of the ''Atlanta Mer- 
chants' and Manufacturers Association," with 
James J. Ragan as president and Harry T. 
Moore, secretary. It fosters the interests of those 
who make and market goods in this city, and is 
a strong and influential organization. The retail 
merchants also are organized along similar lines, 
under the leadership of Samuel Rothberg, pres- 
ident, with C. V. Hohenstein as secretary. The 
food dealers also have their association, the pres- 
ident being J. H. Bulloch and the secretary R. 
V. Bergen. The Wholesale Grocers are organized 
with K. K. Kelly as president and H. Y. McCord, 
Jr., secretary. Then there is the Wholesale 
Brokers Association, with H. S. Prater as pres- 
ident and J. H. AndreM^s secretary. 

Nationally known organizations of a civic na- 
ture are well represented. The Rotary Club, with 
Thomas C. Law as president and D. W. Ormsbee 



230 ATLANTA 

seeretaiy, is a virile civic factor. Spirited meet- 
ings are held weekly and a wide variety of topics 
are discussed, practically all having to do with 
coinmunity progress. 

The Kiwanis Club is another organization with 
a large membership and a definite program of 
community accomplishment. The president is J. 
S. Kennedy; secretary, Frank T. Eeynolds; re- 
cording secretary, Mrs. Margaret MacCrary. As 
related elsewhere, this organization is doing a 
great work in fostering the Home for the Friend- 
less. 

The Civitans, whose remarkable development 
into a great international organization within the 
space of a few years, has attracted widespread 
attention, is well represented in this city. The 
president of the local club is Julian V. Boehm, 
the secretary C. I. Harris. As its name indicates, 
this organization is active in support of civic 
movements, and it is a virile factor in the com- 
munity. The Lions form another live and influ- 
ential organization. 

The Business and Professional AVomen's Club 
is an organization of progressive spirits which 
is doing a splendid work in promoting the inter- 
ests of women who are engaged in business or 
are following any of the numerous professions 
which today are claiming their attention. The 
president is Miss Hortense Marion; recording 
secretary. Miss Nell Hollingsworth ; corrspond- 
ing secretary. Miss Elizabeth Dunnican. 

Eeal estate interests are fostered by the At- 
lanta Real Estate Board, G. Ward Wright, pres- 
ident ; D. S. McArthur, secretary. This is a large 



SPIRITUAL AND CIVIC FORCES 231 

and representative organization with high stan- 
dards, and with rules and regulations based upon 
years of experience. It has done a great work 
in the promotion of sane investments. The fact 
that Atlanta real estate has been free from vio- 
lent fluctuations and ''boom" influences, is large- 
ly due to the sanity and conservatism of the Real 
Estate Board. 

Advertising, as has been pointed out, is one of 
the great activities in this city, and the men who 
spend the millions that are spent annually in this 
channel are associated in the Advertising Club 
of Atlanta. Weston Harvey is president, A. C. 
Carroll, secretary. 

Technical men are represented in the Affiliated 
Technical Societies of Atlanta; T. P. Branch, 
president; E. F. Scott, secretary; the American 
Association of Engineers, Atlanta Chapter, W. 
C. Spiker, president, J. R. Bracewell, secretary; 
the American Chemical Society, Georgia Section, 
C. A. Butt, president, L. B, Lockhart, secretary; 
American Institute of Architects, Georgia Chap- 
ter, P. Thornton Marye, president, L. B. Lock- 
hart, secretary; American Institute of Electrical 
Engineers, Atlanta Section, J. P. Mallett, chair- 
man, J. W. Pye, secretary; American Society of 
Civil Engineers, Atlanta Section, F. H. McDon- 
ald, president, W. C. Spiker, secretary; Ameri- 
can Society of Mechanical Engineers, Atlanta 
Section, H. E. Bussey, president, K. ^Y. Wikle, 
secretary; Atlanta Electrical Association, C. L. 
Emerson, president, W. C. Drake, secretary. 

The bankers are represented in the American 
Institute of Banking, Atlanta Chapter, Harry H. 



232 ATLANTA 

Johnson, president, C. E. Shephard, secretary; 
and the Atlanta Clearing House Association, 
Hatton B. Rogers, president, F. W. Blalock, sec- 
retary. 

Atlanta has three daily newspapers, the 
Constitution, The Journal and the Georgian and 
Sunday American. Of these, the Constitution is 
the pioneer, having been founded in 1868 for the 
prime purpose of fighting for the restoration of 
constitutional government. It has developed a 
number of men of international reputation, in- 
cluding Joel Chandler Harris and the equally 
famous Henry Grady. On its staff now is Frank 
Stanton, one of the most widely known poets and 
* ' columinists " in the South. The Editor of the 
Constitution is Clark Howell, Democratic National 
Committeeman, and long a prominent figure in 
State and National politics. 

The Atlanta Journal long has been one of the 
foremost afternoon papers of the South, and it, 
too, has produced a number of notables, including 
Grantland Rice and Don Marques. The editor is 
John S. Cohen, who began work on the paper as 
a reporter something over thirty years ago. 

The Georgian and Sunday American belong to 
the famous Hearst string of newspapers, the local 
publisher being Thomas Buford Goodwin, a wide- 
ly-known newspaper executive. 

Atlanta is the Southern headquarters of all the 
great news distributing organizations. The Asso- 
ciated Press, The United Press and the Interna- 
tional News maintaining bureaus here and serving 
Southern clients from this point. 



SPIRITUAL AND CIVIC FORCES 233 

A large number of trade journals are published 
in this city, covering almost every important field 
of endeavor. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Schools of Proud Tradition 

ATLANTA'S devotion to the cause of educa- 
tion is one of the most striking character- 
istics. Here was born the movement, and 
here centered the long, hard fight which 
culminated finally in the introduction of the free 
public school in the city and state, and here, 
throughout the years, has existed a practical ap- 
preciation of the best, the influence of which is 
seen in the rapid development of great institutions 
of learning. 

About a number of these institutions tradition 
clings with the beauty and grace of ivy upon old 
Myalls. Consider Emory University. Here is an 
institution founded in 1836 and having behind it 
eighty-six years of constructive services: years 
in which hundreds of men went out from it to 
play a worthy part in the world about them. The 
strength of its convictions, the force of its high 
purposes, the clarity of its intellectual processes 
and the tenderness of its ministry, have had and 
are having profound influence upon the progress 
of the South along the highest and best lines. 

Though old in years and rich in tradition, 
Emory University is thoroughly modern in equip- 
ment; a rather unusual but highly advantageous 
condition, brought about by a recent change in 
the location of the institution, and the creation 
of a new and more important relationship to the 



SCHOOLS OF PROUD TRADITION 235 

Southern Methodist Church; changes which 
brought to it greatly increased financial resources 
and a wider field of usefulness. 

When founded in 1836, Emory College, as it 
was then called, in honor of Bishop John Emory, 
was located near Covington, Newton County, 
Georgia, upon a site of fourteen hundred acres. 
Dr. Ignatius A. Few suggested that this place 
be called Oxford, in honor of the famous English 
university, and the suggestion was adopted. The 
Institution opened for the reception of students 
in 1837, with Dr. Few as its first president. The 
first class was graduated in 1841 and the college 
was continuously in operation at Oxford until the 
change of location was made in 1919 ; during these 
years nearly two thousand men received the diplo- 
mas of the college. 

The movement which resulted in the removal of 
this historic institution to Atlanta had its incep- 
tion with the birth of an idea on the part of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to establish 
' ' an institution or institutions of higher education 
of the grade of a university." An Educational 
Commission was created for this purpose, begin- 
ning its labors in 1914. Prolonged investigations 
were conducted, ,during which the advantages of 
numerous communities east of the Mississippi 
were considered, but in the end Atlanta was se- 
lected as the place best suited for the location of 
an institution of this character. 

A feature of the university was to be a School 
of Theology, and immediately upon the selection 
of Atlanta as the site of the University, such a 
school was opened in the Wesley Memorial build- 



236 ATLANTA 

ing. A gift of $1,000,000 meanwhile had been 
made to the institution by Asa G. Candler, of 
Atlanta, and a number of other substantial sums 
had been contributed. A beautiful site was se- 
lected in the attractive Druid Hills section, and 
there, in the following September, work began 
upon the Candler School of Theology — a majestic 
structure, having class rooms, library, adminis- 
trative offices, and a beautiful chapel, now sit- 
uated upon the campus and constituting one of a 
numerous group of dignified structures. An en- 
dowment of a half-million dollars was voted for 
the School of Theology, a sum which since has 
been supplemented by other gifts. 

The transplanting of Emory College as Emory 
University was followed by the erection of a large 
number of new buildings, and others are being 
added as this is written. This explains how an 
institution so old in years appears today with 
all its buildings and equipment of the most mod- 
ern type. And it might be observed in passing 
that the Avhole forms a happy blending of age and 
youth. 

Following its coming to Atlanta, Emory took 
over another time-honored institution, the Atlan- 
ta Medical College. This college, founded in 1854, 
had become the Atlanta College of Physicians 
and Surgeons in 1898, at which time it absorbed 
the Southern Medical College, which had been es- 
tablished twenty years before. In 1913, the At- 
lanta School of Medicine, which had been founded 
in 1905, and the Atlanta College of Physicians 
and Surgeons were consolidated, and the historic 
name Atlanta Medical College was again adopted. 



SCHOOLS OF PROUD TRADITION 237 

It was this institution, rich in experience and ac- 
complishment, that became ''The School of Med- 
icine of Emory University," and which was given 
an endowment of $270,000 to better equip it for 
its work. 

During the sixty-seven years of its existence, 
this college has graduated a total of 3,273 doctors 
of medicine — many of them men who won wide 
distinction in this field. Under the present aus- 
pices a wider field of usefulness has been opened 
to the institution and it is better equipped than 
ever before to fulfill its mission. 

The promptness with which Emory University 
seized^ opportunities to be of service after its 
facilities for service had been enlarged, was 
shown during the world war, when the Emory 
Base Hospital, known in the records of the 
United States Army as Base Hospital No. 43, was 
equipped and sent forth for the succor of the suf- 
fering. This unit consisted of 36 medical officers, 
100 Red Cross nurses, 200 enlisted men and 6 
civilians. It had a capacity of 500 beds at the 
outset, and was one of the few base hospitals 
from Southern medical colleges that were sent 
to the front by the United States Government. 
It was stationed at Blois, France, where con- 
spicuous service was rendered and where the 
facilities were expanded so rapidly that at the 
time of the signing of the armistice there were 
2,300 beds, and provisions had been made for in- 
creasing the number to 3,000. 

The record of efficiency established by this hos- 
pital is one of which those responsible for it are 
justly proud. More than 7,000 sick and wounded 



238 ATLANTA 

soldiers were treated^ with a mortality of less 
than two per cent. 

The Law School of Emory University is known 
as the Lamar School of Law, in honor of the late 
Justice L. Q. C. Lamar of the United States Su- 
preme Court, distinguished Georgian and grad- 
uate of Emory College. The first session began 
September 25, 1916, the ideal being to establish 
an institution of superior scholarship and clien- 
tele, conducted in accordance with the highest 
professional ethics and the best traditions of the 
profession. 

In 1919, the Graduate School, the School of 
Business Administration, and the Emory Sum- 
mer School were established. 

The Emory University campus contains 110 
acres, the natural beauty of the landscape having 
been greatly enhanced by skillful architecture. 
The buildings have been designed with rare taste, 
and the settings are harmonious, the whole pre- 
senting a scene well calculated to appeal to the 
best in those who seek by a university course to 
better equip themselves for life. 

A summary of the buildings will convey a bet- 
ter idea of the magnitude of the plant than any 
amount of descriptive matter. They consist of 
the Lamar School of Law, the Candler School 
of Theology, the John P. Scott Laboratory of 
Anatomy, the T. T. Fishburne Laboratory .of 
Physiology, the Chemistry Building, the Physics 
Building, the Assembly Hall, three dormitories, 
George Winship Hall, Samuel C. Dobbs Hall, and 
Alabama Hall, the Dining Hall, and the Wesley 
Memorial Hospital. The last named is a splen- 



SCHOOLS OF PROUD TRADITION 239 

did new structure, designed to take the place of 
the hospital plant opened in 1915 at Courtland 
street and Auburn avenue. Four units of this 
great institution will be completed by the com- 
ing fall and will represent an outlay of $1,250,000. 
When completed, the hospital will have cost a 
total of $3,000,000. 

Connected with the new hospital is the Lucy 
Elizabeth Candler Memorial, a maternity pavil- 
ion, erected in memory of their mother by the 
children of the late Mrs. Asa G. Candler, Sr. A 
beautiful and restful structure, it will furnish 
acconunodations for seventy-five patients. 

In addition to the man}^ handsome buildings 
grouped upon the campus, Emory University has 
at its disposal a number of structures in the city, 
which were occupied until 1921 by the School of 
Medicine. Two of these have been turned over 
to the City of Atlanta for use as the Out-patient 
Department and the Entrance Pavilion of the 
Colored Section of the Grady Hospital, but they 
still are available to the School of Medicine for 
clinical purposes. 

The large plant of Emory College at Oxford 
has not been abandoned or surrendered, but is 
used in its entirity as >the Emory University 
Academy. 

One of the surprises awaiting the visitor to 
Emory University is the extent and value of the 
museums. Here is housed the Thursfield Smith 
Collection of Wesleyana, representing many 
years of painstaking and intelligent labor. It 
comprises many rare books and books of personal 
association, such as John Weslev's own hmvn 



240 ATLANTA 

book ; manuscripts, and autograph letters of John 
and Charles Wesley, and their mother and father^ 
Susannah and John Wesley, of John Fletcher, 
Whitefield and others. There are also numerous 
articles which belonged to the Wesleys, and many 
books and documents of unusual interest relating 
to Methodism. 

Another museum of rare and wonderful objects 
is the Egyptian and Babylonian collection. It 
comprises mummies, coffins, a number of frag- 
ments, including gilded heads, hands, and feet, 
sandals and beads, a large collection of bronzes, 
knives, razors, daggers, axes, bells, mirrors, and 
other articles, some of which bear royal inscrip- 
tions back to 1500 B. C. There are a large num- 
ber of royal scarabs, a face-paint pot of Queen 
Ti, earlier than 1400 B. C, head-rests of cedar 
and alabaster, amulets of all ages, stelas bearing 
the names of Rameses II and Cheops, and others. 
There are also weights, jars of alabaster, earth- 
enware jars, flints, fine linen adorned with pearls, 
inscribed linen, mummy cloth, Greek and Egyp- 
tian papgri, an inscribed Grreek door, a brick in- 
scribed with the name of Nebuchadnezzar II, con- 
queror of Jerusalem, fragments of brick from 
many mounds, Ur of Chaldees, Lagash, Eridu and 
others. Here also are seen Hebrew burial bowls 
from under the pavement of Babylon, several 
cuneiform tablets with valuable historical inscrip- 
tions, a splendid roll of Pentateuch written upon 
two hundred sheep skins, and there also are a 
number of Arab weapons. Here also are found 
a number of casts from the British Museum, in- 
cluding a large granite lion of Soleb, Upper 





UPPER PICTURE— VIEW OP AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE 
LOWER PICTURE— SCEXE IN HALL AT WASHINGTON 
SEMINARY 



SCHOOLS OF PROUD TRADITION 241 

Egypt; the head of Amenophis IV, a Tel El 
Amarna Tablet, a statue of Rameses II, a stela 
of Canopus, an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar 11, 
the black Oblisk of Shalmanezzar recording his 
victory over Israel, the Rosetta Stone, and many 
other objects of interest and value. 

The W. H. LaPraBe Collection of Georgia 
Birds, the largest exhibit of its kind in existence, 
is another interesting feature, and there is also 
a large collection of minerals gathered during 
the past fifty years. 

Then there is the Museum of Emory College, 
containing many things of historical interest con- 
tributed by students and others throughout the 
years. 

In all the history of American educational in- 
stitutions there has never been written a more 
charming chapter, interwoven with real romance 
and moral beauty, than the story of the birth 
and death and resurrection of Old Oglethorpe 
University. 

The story goes back a long way — to a man and 
his friend, the man an English gentleman of titled 
descent, the friend an artist and author, who, 
having published a very beautiful and expensive 
book on architecture and being unable to meet 
the costs, was thrown into the small-pox ward 
of a debtor's dungeon and died there. From his 
death there sprung a high resolve on the part 
of his friend to purify the whole wretched prison 
system of England which later, by a path that 
every Georgian knows, led to the founding of the 
largest commonwealth of the United States east 
of the Mississippi River by James Oglethorpe in 



242 ATLANTA 

the earlier 3rd of the 18th century. This incom- 
parable soldier, humanitarian and gentleman 
associated with his name the very finest of Amer- 
ican traditions, being perhaps the greatest of all 
the pre-revolutionary figures of American his- 
tory. His_fame rests not solely on his genius as 
a soldier or his record as a philanthropist. His 
was the distinction of having been the first great 
American abolitionist, for no negro slave was 
allowed in Georgia while Oglethorpe was Gov- 
ernor. His, also, was the honor of being the first 
ruler of America to exclude whiskey from com- 
monwealth or nation, and he was likewise the 
first great Anglo-American, loving his Georgians 
so much that he declined to accept the command 
of the British forces to subdue the colonists, be- 
cause he would not fight with his fellow-country- 
men against his fellow-citizens. In memory of 
this most remarkable figure, there was founded 
• — about one century after he founded Georgia — 
the first Christian college or university between 
the Atlantic and Pacific, south of the Virginia 
line. It was located in the then capital of his 
commonwealth, Milledgeville, and for approx- 
imately one-half century did its marvelous work 
in Georgia, not only, but was and of a right 
claimed to be a Mother of that fine company of 
institutions of learning which combine religious 
with scientific and literary instruction. Asso- 
ciated with this fundamental tradition in the his- 
tory of Oglethorpe University is that of the most 
famous of Georgia's sons and sweetest of her 
singers, Sidney Lanier. Lanier entered Ogle- 
thorpe at the age of 15 in the year 1857, becom- 



SCHOOLS OF PROUD TRADITION 243 

ing Tutor in his Alma Mater immediately upon 
graduating. A few months later, however, the 
vast catastrophe of the "War Between the 
States" swept him and all other students of Ogle- 
thorpe into the armies of the Confederacy. The 
faculty was disbanded; all of the endowment was 
invested in Confederate bonds ; the buildings were 
used as a barracks and hospital during the war, 
and afterward burned, so that when the war was 
over there was no more an Oglethorpe. 

An attempt was made in the early seventies 
to re-open the institution in the capital of the 
State, the young city of Atlanta. For some two 
years the school operated on Washington street 
but, in the midst of the confusion of Reconstruc- 
tion, the doors were again closed. 

Rarely has there been in America a finer illus- 
tration of the immortality of high ideals than is 
exliibited in the resurrection of Oglethorpe Uni- 
versity from among the gray ashes of fratricidal 
strife to her present position of honor and power 
among her sisters. She is perhaps unique among 
standard institutions of learning in that she 
alone, having died for her ideals has also been 
raised from the dead. For today, on Peachtree 
Road, there is rapidly arising one of the most 
beautiful universities in the whole world — built 
of solid Georgia granite with the most perfect 
fire-proof construction, covered with heavy im- 
perishable slate, constructed upon one of the most 
beautiful designs of one of the most famous land- 
scape architects in the world. There, the fine 
traditions associated with these two unmatched 
Georgians are being gathered and woven into 



244 ATLANTA 

the life of the students. From Oglethorpe they 
draw the inspiration of humanitarianism and wis- 
dom in polities and government. From Lanier 
they win their ideals of literature and art, for 
this Oglethorpe boy alone among the Southern- 
born has won his place to sit down with the eight 
immortals of American Literature : Bryant, Long- 
fellow, Lowell, Whittier, Holmes, Whitman, Poe 
and Lanier. His diploma hangs over the desk 
of the President and his spirit hovers over the 
campus of his Alma Mater. 

To the Atlanta citizen the story of Oglethorpe 
means infinitely more than the way in which his 
city became possessed of a fine University. It 
is the story of the immortality of the ideal which 
is an illustration of the way in which the beauti- 
ful thing persists to influence the lives of men, 
for here in the city, whose name Oglethorpe never 
heard and of whom Lanier knew little, is being 
gathered the most precious heritage of all Geor- 
gia — the legacies left by her two best citizens, 
James Oglethorpe, her Founder, and Sidney 
Lanier, her Poet. 

The president of Oglethorpe is Dr. Thornwell 
Jacobs, a man steeped in the best traditions of 
the South — a poQt and a dreamer, gifted with the 
rare faculty of translating his noble visions into 
actuality. 

One of the most famous of Atlanta's educa- 
tional institutions is that which is familiarly 
known as '^ Georgia Tech," which enjoys a rating 
with the United States Bureau of Education 
second to none, with the possible exception of the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Its grad- 



SCHOOLS OF PROUD TRADITION 245 

uates have won distinction in practically every 
field of human endeavor, and its work in training 
men along technical lines has done much to de- 
velop the South industrially. In the field of 
sport, as in that of practical training, this insti- 
tution also occupies a position in the forefront. 
*'Tech" is the pride of Atlantans, as well as of 
all Georgians, for that matter, and this pride is 
the outgrowth of years of distinguished service. 
Few institutions in the history of educational 
development, have risen to a position of such pre- 
eminence in so brief a period, and the extraordi- 
nary growth in influence and in prestige becomes 
all the more remarkable when it is remembered 
that the institution, a creature of the State, is 
dependent largely upon the whims of legislative 
bodies of ever changing personnel. 

The Georgia School of Technology was created 
under an act of the Legislature passed in 1885, 
at a time when the necessity of creating an in- 
dustrial as well as an agricultural South, was 
attracting the attention of thoughtful men, and 
the institution w^as located in Atlanta after a 
spirited contest with a number of other Georgia 
cities. The people of Atlanta took a lively inter- 
est in the institution from the first, contributing 
generously toward the fund for its location, and 
this interest has never been allowed to lag. At- 
lantans appreciate the enviable position the insti- 
tution occupies in the educational world, and 
recognize in it one of the greatest of civic assets. 

In the development of the natural resources of 
the South, Georgia Tech has done a work far be- 
yond anything its founders hoped for — a fact due 



246 ATLANTA 

in large measure to the calibre of the men who 
have directed it. Names linked with its splendid 
history include Dr. I. S. Hopkins, Lyman Hall, 
K. C. Matheson and N. P. Pratt, all men of large 
calibre and great vision. The executive head of 
the institution today is Marion L. Brittain, who 
entered upon the duties of president in August, 
1922, equipped in every way for maintaining the 
splendid record left by his predecessors. 

Georgia Tech covers much ground and has 
many buildings, the number being multiplied at 
this time by several important additions. The 
facilities are being enlarged to the end that they 
may be commensurate with the magnitude of the 
institution, viewed from the standpoint of intel- 
lectual achievement. 

It was an eventful day for the cause of educa- 
tion in Georgia when Dr. F. H. Gaines came to 
Decatur to serve as pastor of the Presbyterian 
Church. He realized immediately the need of 
better training for young women and also the 
opportunity which Decatur afforded for a good 
college. He soon broached the subject to the 
members of his church and received a cordial re- 
sponse. After a few preliminary meetings, it 
was determined to establish a school of high char- 
acter, and a charter was applied for under the 
name of Decatur Female Seminary. Arrange- 
ments were completedj a subscription list of $5,- 
000 was secured, and the school opened in Sep- 
tember, 1889, with Miss Nannette Hopkins as its 
first Principal. 

Col. George W. Scott of Decatur was one of 
those most interested in the founding of the insti- 



SCHOOLS OF PROUD TRADITION 247 

tution, and in 1890 he came to Dr. Gaines with 
the proposition of building a permanent home 
for the new enterprise. The offer was gladly- 
accepted, and Col. Scott invested $112,500 in 
grounds, building, and equipment; and the name 
of the institution was changed to Agnes Scott 
Institute in honor of the mother of Col. Scott. 
Up to that time, his gift was the largest single 
contribution to the cause of education in the 
South. For years he stood firmly behind the 
College, giving largely of his time and money, 
and making possible its definite establishment as 
a high grade seminary. 

In 1895 the Institute had grown so nmch that 
it needed the full time of Dr. Gaines, and at the 
request of the Trustees he resigned from his pas- 
torate and assumed the presidency of the school. 
Under his personal direction, there ensued a long 
and vigorous struggle for the maintenance of the 
highest. ideals and for recognition by the educa- 
tional world. The South in general was so back- 
ward in education for women, that the great insti- 
tutions of the North and West were disposed to 
ask, ''Can any good thing educationally come out 
of Georgia?" The fight was gradually won. The 
lower grades of instruction were dropped from 
the Institute and higher ones added, until in 1905 
Agnes Scott was fully recognized as a college; 
and it has since that time been officially known 
as Agnes Scott College. 

In recent years the recognition given to the 
College has been practically world wide. In 1907 
it was admitted to membership in the Association 
of Colleges and Secondary Schools for Southern 



248 ATLANTA 

States. In 1912 its graduates were admitted to 
the Southern Association of College Women. In 
1914 its graduates were permitted to enter as 
candidates for the M.A. degree in one year by 
the great universities. In 1919 Agnes Scott was 
placed on the approved list of the Association of 
American Universities. In the following year, its 
graduates were declared eligible for membership 
in the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, and 
they of course are eligible in the new American 
Association of University Women. 

The men of Atlanta have responded well 
to the needs of Agnes Scott. In 1909 the General 
Education Board offered the College $100,000 if 
the community would raise $250,000 additional. 
Under the leadership of Mr. S. M. Inman, then 
President of the Board of Trustees, this task was 
quickly accomplished in the first of the "whirl- 
wind" campaigns ever held in Atlanta. 

Again in 1919 the General Education Board 
offered $275,000 if friends of the College would 
contribute enough to bring the total sum to $750,- 
000. Under the leadership of Mr. J. K. Orr, the 
present Chairman of the Board, this challenge 
was successfully met ; and Atlanta and all Georgia 
were generous in their contributions. 

The College noAv has a plant of about 22 acres, 
and there are 21 buildings in actual use, the 
whole being valued at about $750,000. When the 
pledges in the last campaign are fully paid, the 
endowment of the College will total $800,000. 
The institution is crowded to its capacity each 
year, and has to turn away annually more appli- 



SCHOOLS OF PROUD TRADITION 249 

cants than it can take. Its capacity is only 450 
students at present. 

The outstanding features of the institution are 
its high standards, rigidly enforced, its conserva- 
tive Christian atmosphere, its emphasis on Bible 
study, the eagerness with which its graduates are 
sought for excellent positions, and the enthusiasm 
and loyalty of those who become its students. 

In her will recently probated. Miss Jane AVal- 
ker Inman left Agnes Scott the residue of her 
estate, after certain bequests should be paid. 
This will amount to more than $100,000 at this 
time. In addition she left a life estate which will 
eventually come to the College and will amount 
to $50,000 more. This whole sum is to be used 
as a memorial of the brother of Miss Inman and 
will be called the ' ' Samuel M. Inman Endowment 
Fund." 

On a beautiful knoll, well back from Peachtree 
street, and surrounded by a park of exceptional 
attractiveness, The Washington Seminary consti- 
tutes one of the most thoroughly pleasing pros- 
pects in all Atlanta. Through the trees and 
across the Avide lawn, the main building is seen, 
serene and stately. Great fluted columns, white 
and splendidly proportioned, are marshalled 
across the front and flow back on either end of 
the imposing structure, and back of these wide 
verandas run on and on. 

This palatial building was erected some years 
ago as a private mansion, but the architect scarce- 
ly could have builded better had he known that 
it was to become adapted to present uses. The 
rooms are large, numerous and beautifully fin- 



250 ATLANTA 

ished, and halls more impressive scarcely could 
be imagined. 

The house is built around an open court, about 
fifty feet square, and a veranda, flanked by slen- 
der columns, parallels this court, affording a re- 
treat of rare charm. This court, aside from being 
highly ornamental, serves the practical purpose 
of providing an abundance of sunshine and air 
for all the rooms which overlook it. 

The school building is separate from the home, 
but is designed to harmonize with it. New, mod- 
ern in all its appointments, and of pleasing archi- 
tecture, this building contains study halls, recita- 
tion rooms, music rooms, art rooms, gymnasium, 
etc. A distinctive and valuable feature is the 
arrangement for open air class rooms. On two 
sides are wide porches, which are divided into sec- 
tions corresponding to the class rooms on the 
inside. Entrance is from the inner to the outer 
rooms, and in all seasonable weather, the classes 
are conducted on the porches. Inasmuch as the 
climate here admits of about five months of out- 
of-doors class work, the advantage to the stu- 
dents, from the standpoint of physical better- 
ment, is marked. The spacious grounds afford 
space for games of every kind, and the recre- 
ational possibilities practically are unlimited. 

The Washington Seminary has been in suc- 
cessful operation for forty-four years, and some 
of the things which have commended it to fathers 
and mothers in the selection of a school for their 
daughters, include the division of classes into 
small sections, insuring individual attention to 
each pupil and the adaption of instruction to per- 



SCHOOLS OF PROUD TRADITION 251 

sonal needs; strict limitations placed upon the 
number of students; a flexible system of classifi- 
cation whereby the student is allowed to enter 
the class in each study for which previous prep- 
aration best fits her; special college preparatory 
course for students expecting to enter such insti- 
tutions as Vassar, Smith, Wellesley, Randolph- 
Macon, etc.; practical courses for training girls 
for the duties and responsibilities of home-mak- 
ing and home-keeping, and the abundant provision 
which is made for the healthful development of 
the body. The president is Dr. Llewellyn D. 
Scott, who is surrounded by a corps of gifted 
instructors. 

This institution is representative, in character 
and in attainment, of many private schools in 
the city of Atlanta — institutions which, through 
patient labor and high purpose, are adding con- 
stantly to the fame of this city as an educational 
center. 

This city also has numerous business colleges 
and institutions which specialize upon various 
professions, the date of the organization of a 
number of these going back to the early days of 
Atlanta. 

It is inevitable that a city which supports an 
annual presentation of grand opera by the world- 
famous Metropolitan Grand Opera Company, 
should be a community in which exists an extra- 
ordinary appreciation of the best in the musical 
art. Therefore, it is not surprising that this City 
has become the most important center in the 
South for musical education. Music is not only 
taught in the leading educational institutions by 



252 ATLANTA 

artists of exceptional ability, but this City has 
schools of music directed by men and women of 
national reputation. 

The Atlanta Conservatory of Music, founded in 
1907 and formally opened in 1908, is one of the 
most popular institutions of the kind in the 
South, and one which enjoys an enviable reputa- 
tion throughout the country. Its enrollment is 
approximately 900 at this time, and the number is 
increasing from year to year. It is housed in a 
splendid building, in the very heart of the busi- 
ness district. The director, George Fr. Lindner, 
is a man of exceptional experience and ability. As 
a teacher, concert artist and composer, he enjoys 
a wide reputation. Born in Bremen, in a home 
where he was surrounded by every musical ad- 
vantage, he began his training at the age of six, 
making his concert debut at the age of eleven. 
Shortly thereafter he made his first American 
tour, achieving success in this country. However, 
his father, realizing the necessity for a thorough 
foundation, withdrew him from the concert stage 
and for four years he was under such masters as 
Dont, Hellmesberg and Thompson for technique, 
and with Kaun and Schoefield for theory and com- 
position. Coming to Atlanta several years ago, he 
was made director of the Atlanta Conservatory 
of Music, and has brought it to a position of pre- 
eminence among Southern schools of music . An 
able faculty, plus the fact that students may hear 
the best of the world's artists in this City, has de- 
veloped this institution into one that is a virile 
factor in the promotion of musical culture in the 
South. 



SCHOOLS OF PROUD TRADITION 253 

Foremost among these artists are Signor Em- 
ilo Volpi and his distinguished wife, Nora Allen. 
A life-long friend of Caruso, and an intimate as- 
sociate from his boyhood with many of the world's 
most famous singers, Signor Vopli came from 
music-loving Italy equipped as few men are for 
the profession into which environment and adap- 
tability led him, and he had won fame in this 
country as a musical instructor before he made 
Atlanta his home. His wife, Nora Allen, formerly 
with the Chicago Grand Opera Company, also is 
splendidly equipped for conveying to others an 
apt appreciation of musical values. Since their 
location in Atlanta they have organized the Noral 
Allen Grand Opera Concert Company, and the 
initial performance, given during the past sum- 
mer evoked the enthusiastic applause of mus- 
ical critics. Unquestionably they are a prime as- 
set to musical Atlanta, and their school is win- 
ning deserved fame. 

To Murray M. Howard, an Atlanta citizen is 
due the inauguration of an economic movement in 
the public schools that is spreading rapidly and 
will, it is believed, in a few years be universally 
used throughout the country. This is the Howard 
system of exchanging school books among the 
public school children. Recognizing the problem 
faced by a vast number of families in providing 
the necessary money to purchase books for their 
children and the great waste in used books, gen- 
erally, Mr. Howard devised the plan of letting 
parents and scholars use the school houses as a 
place for selling or exchanging books the children 



254 ATLANTA 

had finished and purchasing other books needed 
for the next term. 

The plan has met with great success and has 
resulted in the saving of many thousands of dol- 
lars to the citizens of Atlanta. 

Peeples Street School, where the school book 
exchange was first inauguerated, was also the be- 
ginning of another school reform idea that had 
far-reaching effect. In 1916, through the efforts 
of Mrs. Murray Howard, the Parent Teachers' 
Association organized the male parents of the 
school into what became known as the ' ' Wake Up, 
Daddy" movement which swept through the City 
with irresistable public approval and resulted in 
the charter of Atlanta being so amended as to 
permit the board of education to be elected by di- 
rect vote of the people, instead of by council. 



CHAPTER XVL 

A Financial Stronghold 

WHEN the historian of the future writes 
the economic and financial story of the 
United States, he must inevitably treat 
at some length the critical period 
between 1914 and 1921. These seven short 
years witnessed a wonderful thing. They 
saw the financial structure of the country tested 
to the uttermost — tested by the pressure of the 
most perilous conditions which can threaten the 
economic life of a nation. The world conflict 
which raged from 1914 to 1918 was fought, not 
only by armies against external foes, but by 
whole peoples against the immeasurably more 
dangerous and insidious enemies within — against 
famine and poverty; forces which, like the germs 
of deadly disease within a human body, gradually 
sap the strength and seek to destroy the life of 
a country at its source. It is now a matter of 
common knowledge and rejoicing that this attack 
was beaten off, that this supreme test was passed 
with honor. 

The success of our country, where Austria, and 
Germany, and Russia failed so tragically, was 
due primarily to a state of sound economic health, 
one of whose strongest elements must inevitably 
be considered the Federal Reserve System. This 
great organization came into being through the 
passage of the so-called Federal Reserve Act of 
December 23, 1913 ; and it could not have come in 



256 ATLANTA 

happier time. The Reserve System proved the 
bulwark of the Government against financial 
stress and panic. Nobly it did its work, and all 
America has the right to be proud of the System 
and what it accomplished for the nation. Just 
so, all the Southeast has the right to be proud 
of the Federal Reserve Bajik of Atlanta, and what 
it accomplished for this section. 

Just here, a few words of explanation as to the 
operation of the Federal Reserve System may not 
be amiss. In the caption of the Act, the three 
main purposes of the legislation are set forth as 
follows: (1) "To provide for the establishment 
of Federal Reserve Banks; (2) To furnish an 
elastic currency; (3) To establish a more effective 
supervision of banking in the United States, and 
for other purposes." 

There are 12 Reserve Banks (in Boston, New 
York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlan- 
ta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City^ 
and San Francisco) throughout the country. 
These, together with their Branches and with the 
Federal Reserve Board located at AVashington^ 
make up the Federal Reserve System. 

Each Reserve Bank is under the direct control 
of its officers and directors, and is practically a 
separate institution connected with the other Re- 
serve Banks only through the Federal Reserve 
Board, which exercises certain general supervis- 
ory powers, as will be explained later. Of the 
nine directors of a Reserve Bank, three are ap- 
pointed by the member banks as their represen- 
tatives, the banks being sub-classified into three 
classes of nearly similar capitalization, each of 





DAM AND POWER PLANT, GEORGIA RAILWAY AND 
POWER CO. 



A FINANCIAL STRONGHOLD 257 

which elects one director. A second group of 
three directors consists of men prominently en- 
gaged in business, commercial or agricultural pur- 
suits, and are required to be non-bankers. These 
directors are also selected by the member banks. 
The remaining three members of the Board of 
Directors are appointed by the Federal Reserve 
Board, and one of the three is designated as 
Chairman of the body and Federal Reserve 
Agent, being the direct representative of the 
Board upon the official staff of the Bank. 

The simplest way to express the function of a 
Reserve Bank is to say that it is a banker 's bank. 
Instead of individuals, the stock-holders are mem- 
ber banks, which are required to purchase stock 
in proportion to their capital and surplus. All 
national banks are required to be members of 
the System; and any state banks and trust com- 
panies are at liberty to come into the System 
upon the fulfillment of certain entrance require- 
ments stated in the Federal Reserve Act. Each 
member bank is required to maintain a certain 
reserve with the regional bank, which, in turn, 
must itself maintain a reserve of 40 per cent in 
gold against Federal Reserve Notes actually in cir- 
culation, and 35 per cent against member banks' 
reserve deposits. The member bank is then en- 
titled to submit to the Reserve Bank its eligible 
paper for rediscount. In a very general way, it 
may be stated that a Reserve Bank's loans fall 
into three classes: (1) Loans to commerce and 
industry; (2) Loans to agriculture; and (3) 
Loans on Government bonds. All such advances 
are made to banks, and never to individuals. 



258 ATLANTA 

Many factors — such as the nature of the trans- 
action out of which the paper rose, the subse- 
quent use of the proceeds, the date of maturity, 
etc. — enter into the question as to the eligibility 
of paper offered for rediscount by a member 
bank. The Reserve Bank is guided by the dis- 
cretion of its Executive Committee in such mat- 
ters. Closely correlated with the lending power 
of a Reserve Bank is its power to issue currency 
in times of need, against which it must maintain 
a gold reserve of 40 per cent. Other security, 
dollar for dollar, must be set aside against 
the notes issued, but this security may be bor- 
rowers' paper of an early maturity, representing 
either loans for the production or distribution 
of goods and farm products, or loans to holders 
of United States Government securities. 

The Federal Reserve Board is made up of 
eight members, six of whom are appointed by 
the President and are considered to be represen- 
tative of the commercial and agricultural life of 
the nation. The remaining two members are 
the Secretary of the Treasury and the Comptrol- 
ler of the Currency, who hold their seats by vir- 
tue of their office. The powers of the Board, as 
stated above, are almost entirely supervisory. 
Its approval is necessary to a change in the re- 
discount rate of any Reserve Bank. It passes 
upon the salaries of officers and employees of the 
regional institutions, and, under certain condi- 
tions, may remove any of their officers or direc- 
tors. It also interprets the language and the 
meaning of the Federal Reserve Act, so as to 
show what classes of loans may be made by the 



A FINANCIAL STRONGHOLD 259 

Reserve Banks; but the Board has no right to 
pass upon the individual loans which a Reserve 
Bank may make. It cannot say when a loan shall 
be made to a member bank, or what the amount 
of such loan shall be, nor can the Board compel 
a Reserve Bank to lend to a member bank or to 
refrain from doing so. To sum up, the Board is 
simply the central office of the System, whose 
function is to keep in view the operations of the 
various Reserve Banks and to secure proper co- 
ordination among them. 

The above paragraphs are sufficient to give the 
reader a general idea of the purposes for which 
the Reserve System was created, and the manner 
in which it goes about the accomplishment of the 
work which it has been designed to do. 

The Atlanta Bank opened its doors on Novem- 
ber 16, 1914, with small quarters in the Hurt 
Building. Its existence was begun under the 
most discouraging conditions. There was not 
the usual European market for the South 's great- 
est crop, cotton; and the whole section was suf- 
fering. Things were in a way to become desper- 
ate, but the little Reserve Bank stepped boldly 
into the breach. It stabilized the value of com- 
modities and it reduced the rates of discount, giv- 
ing to its member banks the assurance of a place 
of rediscount at reasonable rates. In the years 
since then, the work has gone steadily on, until 
the little Reserve Bank has become an important 
factor in the economic life of the nation. It has 
grown into a great institution, and, in proportion 
as its own prosperity has increased, it has aided 
its member banks and the whole South to grow. 



260 ATLANTA 

It is impossible to go here, at any length, into the 
specific improvements it has brought about, but 
one or two may be mentioned. In November, 
1915, in common with the other Reserve Banks, 
it was designated as fiscal agent for the Govern- 
ment, and, on January 1, 1916, $5,000,000 of Gov- 
ernment funds was placed in its vaults. This 
large deposit was, of biecessity, withdrawn ^n 
July of the same year, but a substantial balance 
of several million dollars remained, and it has 
been kept up ever since, the amount of Govern- 
ment deposit on June 21, 1922, being $995,163.88. 
In 1920, the Atlanta Reserve Bank was of ma- 
terial assistance in enabling the South to pass 
through a threatened financial disaster of very 
grave dimensions. The year was begun auspi- 
ciously, with but little indication of the trouble 
to come. The Atlanta institution had a reserve 
percentage of 54 per cent, the second best show- 
ing in the entire Reserve System. But conditions 
rapidly grew worse ; and, on September 28th came 
the high peak of rediscounts, the amount totalling 
the amazing figure of $49,491,000. The actual 
reserve fell to 14.9 per cent. The strain was 
enormous. In order to take care of the agricul- 
tural interests which were bearing the brunt of 
the storm, the Atlanta Bank not only used up all 
its own available resources but actually borrowed 
$49,000,000 from other Federal Reserve Banks. 
Matters went from bad to worse, and on Novem- 
ber 1, 1921, the total loans to member banks from 
the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta had reached 
the tremendous sum of $182,868,000. At last, the 
clouds began to break, and sounder credit condi- 



A FINANCIAL STRONGHOLD 261 

tions were slowly brought about in this section. 
The agricultural, commercial, and industrial 
spheres quickened into renewed activity, until, at 
length, the pressing danger was past. Once 
again, the value of the Reserve System had been 
triumphantly demonstrated. 

One other feature of the bank's work remains 
to be briefly considered — the splendid part it play- 
ed helping the Government to raise ready money 
for the conduct of the World War. The figures be- 
low give a clearer idea than could any statements 
of mine as to the magnitude of the transactions 
involved in the Liberty and Victory Loan Cam- 
paigns, and the sale of Treasury Certificates of 
Indebtedness. A glance will suffice to show how 
completely the Atlanta Bank, and the people in 
this section, met — and more than met — the call 
of the country in a time of serious national 
need. The First and Second Liberty Loans as 
well as the Victory Loan, were well over-sub- 
scribed; while the Third and Fourth Liberty 
Loans produced exactly the huge sums alloted to 
be raised. Here are the figures: 

Loan Allotment Amount Subscribed 

First Liberty $ 46,283,150 $ 58,506,800 

Second Liberty 84,609,300 92,918,200 

Third Liberty 137,649,450 137,649,450 

Fourth Liberty 217,885,200 217,885,200 

Victory 133,080,800 140,779,850 



Total $619,507,500 $647,739,550 



262 ATLANTA 

Amount Oversubscribed. .$28,231,650 
Sale of Treasury Certificates. 

1917 - - - - - $ 48,495,000 

1918 ----- 79,573,000 

1919 ----- 328,838,500 

1920 ----- 71,518,500 

1921 ----- 59,258,100 

1922 (June) - - - - 43,380,200 

A few years after starting business, the rapidly 
increasing volume of transactions compelled the 
Atlanta Bank to seek larger quarters. At a meet- 
ing of the Board of Directors in June 1917, the 
purchase of the Marietta street lot on which the 
Bank now stands was authorized, at a cost of 
$102,500, and plans were made for a building 
thereon. On October 1, 1918, all was ready, and 
the new offices were opened to the public inspec- 
tion. All the fittings were of tlie best, and the 
building, designed by Mr. A. Ten Eyck Brown 
the present architect of the bank, was attractive 
and imposing in appearance. The approximate 
cost was $130,000 for the building proper, and 
$72,000 for the vaults. The furniture and fixtures 
cost in the neighborhood of $15,000. It was 
thought that the new quarters would contain the 
bank comfortably for some time, but in 1920 a 
further need for expansion developed, and an 
addition costing about $226,000 was completed in 
May of that year. During the previous June 
the building of the old Commercial National 
Bank in New Orleans was purchased for the 
Branch Bank, at a total cost of $236,500. 



A FINANCIAL STRONGHOLD 263 

The Atlanta Bank continued to do an expand- 
ing business, until, in July, 1922, a contract was 
let for a further addition. Work is now going 
on under the direction of Architect Brown and 
a Building Committee of which J. A. McCrary, 
one of the directors of the bank, is chairman. 
The completed building, which will l)e ready 
for occupancy early this winter, will be one of 
the handsomest structures in the entire country. 
The new addition is expected to involve an out- 
lay of $1,500,000.00, which figure includes $159,- 
823.89 to be spent in the construction of vaults. 
All Atlanta is looking forward eagerly to the time 
when the Federal Reserve Bank will be able to 
reflect in its magnificent home the inward growth 
of the institution, whose inspiring story of prog- 
ress has been but feebly sketched in the forego- 
ing paragraphs. 

Going back to 1914, when the bank first opened, 
one finds that the business to be transacted was 
so little that the affairs of the institution could 
be adequately handled by only two main officers 
and a small force of 19 employees. The two offi- 
cers, who are still with the bank though their 
official positions are reversed, were Joseph A. 
McCord, Governor, and M. B. Wellborn, Chair- 
man of the Board and Federal Reserve Agent. 
Mr. McCord was prominently identified with 
local banking circles for many years, and was 
vice-president of the Citizens and Southern Bank 
before accepting the Governorship of the Reserve 
Bank. Mr. Wellborn was an Alabama banker 
of widely known ability, and came to Atlanta 
from the presidency of the First National Bank 



264 ATLANTA 

of Anniston, Alabama. Mr. Wellborn was also 
president of the First National Bank of Jack- 
sonville, Alabama, and the First National Bank 
of Piedmont, Alabama. 

These two gentlemen, together with M. W. Bell, 
present Cashier; J. M. Slattery, present Secre- 
tary; R. A. Sims, present Assistant Cashier of 
the Money Division; and Miss L. V. Davidson, 
the first Secretary to Governor McCord, are the 
only employees at present with the Bank who 
have been there since the beginning of things, 
'way back in 1914. Mr. J. B. Pike, the first Cash- 
ier, was made Deputy Governor in 1919, but soon 
afterward resigned to go on the official staff of 
the National City Bank of New York. 

The total emplo^^ees of the Bank, at the start 
of operations in 1914, including eight officers, 
numbered 27. Some idea of the subsequent 
growth of the institution, with its Branches, may 
be obtained when it is stated that the employees, 
exclusive of officers numbered 472 on June 7, 
1922. 

There can be no clearer evidence of the rapid 
growth of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 
than that which is to be found in the gradual 
establishment of branches, and the increase in the 
volume of business done by those branches. The 
New Orleans Branch, opened September 10, 1915, 
was the first branch bank of the entire System. 
It was, from the start, a successful venture; and 
served a wide field in the middle South, too dis- 
tant from the parent bank to secure the rapid 
accommodation extended to institutions in the 
Southeast. Nearly three years later — on August 



A FINANCIAL STRONGHOLD 265 

1, 1918 — the Birmingham and Jacksonville offices 
were opened, while the Nashville Branch was 
opened on October 21, 1919. These banks have 
proved as valuable, and have grown as swiftly, 
as the New Orleans office. In 1919, an Agency 
was established in Savannah, Georgia, this was 
largely in recognition of the importance of that 
city as a port, for the export and import of 
goods. It is the only Agency in the System ; and 
differs from a branch in that it has no Board 
of Directors, but is under the immediate control 
of a manager and assistant manager. Its chi?f 
functions are the issuing of money to Savannah 
banks, and the holding of collateral on notes 
which are themselves forwarded to the central 
office in Atlanta. 

The}^ say that figures, unlike the most success- 
ful politicians, never lie. If this be true, the 
appended table may serve as a mute testimonial 
to the rapid growth of the Federal Reserve Bank 
of Atlanta, and its increasing importance as a 
vital factor in the economic existence of the 
South: 

State member banks of the Federal Reserve 
System in the Sixth District: 

1914 - - - - 1 

1915 - - - - 2 

1916 - - - - 4 

1917 - - - - 18 

1918 - - - - 54 

1919 - - - - 64 

1920 - - - - 85 

1921 - - - - 127 

1922 (to date) - - 143 



266 ATLANTA 

At this time — July, 1922 — the officers of the 
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta are: M. B. 
Wellborn, Governor; L. C. Adelson, Deputy Gov- 
ernor; J. L. Campbell, Deputy Governor; J. M. 
Slattery, Secretary; M. W. Bell, Cashier; W. B. 
Roper, Assistant Cashier; R. A. Sims, Assistant 
Cashier; W. R. Patterson, Assistant Cashier; J. 
B. Tutwiler, Assistant Cashier; J. A. McCord, 
Chairman of the Board and Federal Reserve 
Agent; Ward Albertson, Assistant Federal Re- 
serve Agent ; C. R. Tidwell, Assistant Federal Re- 
serve Agent ; W. H. Toole, Manager, Fiscal Agent 
Department, and Creed Taylor, General Auditor. 

The following table shows the resources of the 
national and state banks of Atlanta, September 
15, 1922: 

Atlanta National $ 25,594,877.53 

Fourth National 27,643,987.54 

Lowry National 19,120.329.16 

Fulton National 6,978,310.85 

Citizen & Southern 51,932,954.60 

Central Bank & Trust Corp 11,609,312.08 

Atlanta Trust Company 4,875,827.68 

Georgia Savings Bank & Trust 

Company 2,797,770.06 

Trust Company of Georgia 7,369,974.98 

Total $157,724,344.48 

Space is not available here for a detailed story 
of all the great financial institutions of Atlanta, 
but because of its typical character and the light 
it sheds upon the development of this city from 
an infant among banking communities to one of 



A FINANCIAL STRONGHOLD 267 

the greatest in the South, the history of one of 
the oldest and most successful will be related — 
that of the Lowry National Bank. 

In 1861, when Atlanta was a small but growing 
town, Col. Robert J. Lowry came here from 
Greenville, Tenn., and engaged in the produce 
commission business, selling supplies shipped 
from Tennessee by his father, W. M. Lowry. 

From that day to this, covering a period of 
more than sixty years, the name of Colonel Lowry 
and that of the institution which he established 
have been intimately associated with the growth, 
progress and development of this city. 

The first Lowry Bank, or business, established 
in Atlanta, was located on Decatur street, at the 
Northwest corner of Pryor. In those days Deca- 
tur street was not only the center of the business 
and commercial life of the city, but of the social 
and home life. The finest residences were located 
on this street, and many of the older citizens, 
now occupying elegant homes elsewhere, can re- 
call having lived on this thoroughfare. 

Colonel Lowry continued in business for him- 
self until after the war, when he was joined by 
his father, and the two went into the wholesale 
grocery and banking business; being located on 
Alabama street. Shortly after this, they pur- 
chased a building on the Southwest corner of Ala- 
bama street and Central avenue, then Lloyd 
street, and there, in the early seventies, gradually 
eliminated the grocery business and specialized 
upon banking, the firm name being W. M. and 
R. J. Lowry, Bankers. 



268 ATLANTA 

About 1875, Joseph T. Orme, then a youth, be- 
came associated with the institution, which con- 
tinued to do business as a private bank until 1887, 
when a state charter was obtained and the organi- 
zation was incorporated as the Lowry Banking 
Company. The capital stock was then $350,000 
and there was a surplus of $70,000, which was 
indicative of the growing importance of the young 
city as a financial center. 

in August, 1892, the Lowry Banking Company 
moved from its Alabama street location to its 
new quarters in the Equitable Building, now the 
Trust Company of Georgia Building. This struct 
ture, by the way, was the first large, fire-proof 
office building erected in the "South, and the bank- 
ing quarters were the finest and most up-to-date 
to be found in any city South of Washington. 

The State charter was retained until 1900, 
when a national charter was obtained. The name 
*' Lowry National Bank of Atlanta" was then 
adopted and the capital stock increased to $500,- 
000. ITpon receiving the national charter, the 
bank became one of the regular designated de- 
positaries of the United States Government. 
Later the capital stock was increased to $800,- 
000, and in 1910 it was again increased, this time 
to a million dollars. Meanwhile the surplus, 
which had grown to $600,000, was increased to 
$1,000,000, so that now, with capital and surplus 
aggregating $2,000,000, with profits of $1,000,- 
000, circulation of $1,000,000 and deposits of near- 
ly $16,000,000, the Lowry bank has resources 
aggregating approximately $20,000,000. The 
president of the bank today is H. Warner Mar- 



A FINANCIAL STRONGHOLD 269 

tin, a young man of conspicuous ability as a finan- 
cier. From the position of bank clerk ten years 
ago, he has attained the presidency of one of the 
most outstanding financial institutions in the 
South. 

Among the many other surprises one finds in 
Atlanta, is that large investments in building 
enterprises, from Indianapolis to Miami, have 
been financed in this city, and that this construc- 
tive work in being enlarged all the time. The 
firm which is specializing along this line and 
which is growing at an astonishing rate, is the 
G. L. Miller Company. Among the buildings 
which have been financed from Atlanta by this 
firm is the magnificient Harvey Apartments, at 
Indianapolis ; the new Hotel Richmond, at Augus- 
ta, Ga. ; the Berkley Court Apartments at Charles- 
ton, S. C. ; the Gallat Court Apartments at Miami, 
Fla., the Helene Apartments at Miami; the St. 
Charles Apartments, at Mobile, Ala.; the Alma- 
dura Apartments at Memphis, Tenn. ; the Dulion 
Apartments, at Birmingham, Ala.; the Granada 
Apartment Hotel, at Miami, Fla. ; the El Verano 
Hotel, at West Palm Beach, Fla. ; the Highland 
View Apartments, at Birmingham, Ala. ; the Hill 
Office Building, at Jacksonville, Fla., and numer- 
ous splendid buildings in Atlanta, including the 
Hotel Cecil, the Belvedere Apartments, the Bon 
Air Apartments, the Belmont Apartments, the 
Southland Apartments and the Cathcart Storage 
Warehouse. 

The erection of these splendid structures, espec- 
ially in the country at large, has served to magni- 
fy the fame of Atlanta as a financial center. Mr. 



270 ATLANTA 

G. L. Miller, the head of the firm, says, "This 
year we have ten million dollars to lend to build- 
ers of modern, income-earning buildings in the 
South. It is not only a satisfaction to us, but 
also a compliment to the stability of the South 
and of Atlanta, that never yet has a building 
financed by us failed to pay more than its esti- 
mated income." 

The business of Mr. Miller began some years 
ago in a small way at Miami, Fla., but its growth 
was rapid, and in 1917 he opened the Atlanta 
office. Then expansion began on a truly aston- 
ishing scale, with the result that today the firm 
has a staff of some sixty people and occupies 
over four thousand feet of office space in the 
Hurt Building. '' ^Via Atlanta' is a sure road 
to success," says Mr. Miller. 

The company maintains offices in a number of 
other cities, including an important establishment 
in New York. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Industry at its Best 

THE manufacture of ice, one of the most 
essential of Southern industries, has at- 
tained the maximum, both in volume and 
in efficiency, in the City of Atlanta. Here 
is located one of the greatest of all ice producing 
enterprises, operating thirty-four plants, turning 
out an average daily supply of 3,500 tons and 
having a storage capacity of 120,000 tons. 

Figures like these astound when one recalls 
the fact that it has been only a little while since 
the South was dependent upon natural ice from 
the North, and when the precious material was 
as rare as it was costly. In those days, well 
remembered by men and women who are still 
young, folks in the rural communities kept things 
cool by placing them in the ''big spring." Re- 
member the huge earthenware jars in which milk 
and butter and other perishable things were 
placed and how the jars were let down into the 
spring ? Of course you do. And you also remem- 
ber how folks not so fortunately situated as to 
have a cool spring, would place shelves down 
inside the well so that the cool air would help 
to preserve the milk and butter. Everybody 
whose memory goes back thirty or forty years, 
recalls these things, and doubtless they also re- 
member how much was lost, in the way of val- 
uable food products, because of the inadequate 
means for preserving them. 



272 ATLANTA 

And the poor folks who were ill in those days,, 
how they suffered! No ice water for fevered 
lips; no ice packs for aching heads. How glad 
the unfortunates of that day would have been to 
step to a telephone and order as much ice as they 
wanted, or, better still, to have been able to go 
to their own ice-box and help themselves, know- 
ing that the diligent delivery man would be around 
again in a little while with another supply. But 
they enjoyed no such advantages and there was 
no real relief in sight until a genius in Florida 
discovered that ice could be produced by scien- 
tific means. Then what a transformation was 
wrought ! 

What this discovery meant to the South stag- 
gers the imagination. It meant far more than 
added personal comfort. It meant such develop- 
ment along the lines of productiveness as no one 
had deemed possible, and which would have 
been utterly out of the question but for this cool- 
ing substance. It meant that melons and berries 
and fruits, so well adapted to the South, could 
be raised in unlimited quantities and then could 
be transported, without loss of quality, to the 
great markets of the world. It meant the same 
thing for dairy products and perishable things 
of every kind and character, and thus a new era 
of boimdless opportunity^ was opened to the 
South. It had, indeed, developed a commodity 
that was superior to the natural ice, as time was 
to prove. In the first place, the manufactured 
ice could be turned out in unlimited quantities, 
hence the supply was not contingent upon the 
length of winter or the frequency with which the 



- -;:-" - v\\ W 



I 





L., 



S .^. 



INDUSTRY AT ITS BEST 273 

thermometer hit the zero mark. Moreover, it 
possessed the advantage of uniformity and of 
purity. There is a tremendous difference be- 
tween depending upon the natural water of lakes 
and rivers for ones ice supply, and getting it 
from a concern that produces it from distilled 
water that is absolutely pure. Jack Frost no 
longer is able to compete with Mr. Scientist in 
this field. 

Though young, compared to many Southern 
enterprises, the ice industry has attained tre- 
mendous proportions, and no where is there more 
pronounced evidence of this than in Atlanta, the 
home of the Atlantic Ice Company— in which 
organization the ice manufacturing industry finds 
its greatest single unit of productive capacity. 
Here is an enterprise employing from three to 
five thousand operatives, distributed among 
thirty-four plants located in twenty-one Southern 
cities; a vast enterprise delivering five cents 
worth of ice to the humble cottage of the poor, 
or a solid train load to the packing plant of some 
great fruit concern. 

The daily residence and store delivery service 
of this company requires the use of eight hun- 
dred wagons and motor trucks, and in a single 
year it pays out more than a million dollars in the 
conduct of its delivery, service to consumers. In 
spite of the fact that there is a non-profitable 
period extending through about half the year, 
this company maintains its entire mechanical 
force throughout the twelve months, thus being 
enabled to accumulate ice against the day of un- 
expected need. Such an emergency arose not 



274 ATLANTA 

many months ago, when a large midwestern city 
underwent a severe ice shortage, which threat- 
ened for a time to bring ruin to thousands of 
dollars of perishable food and, what was much 
worse, threatened the lives and the health of the 
people of the community — prattling tots and play- 
ful school children, as well as the ill and the week 
of all ages. 

Without diverting a single cake of ice from its 
regular customers, this great Atlanta organiza- 
tion, day after day, sent vast quantities of its 
product to the famine stricken city until the 
emergency was over. Meanwhile it functioned as 
usual in providing ice for Georgia's tremendous 
peach crop, which was moving at the same time, 
and which had to be kept cool if the fruit was to 
remain unimpaired and the producer was to 
realize the money which meant so much to him 
and to the prosperity of the state. In this, and 
in many other instances, large-scale production 
was fully vindicated. 

The plants of the Atlantic Ice Company are 
located in Atlanta, the headquarters, and in the 
following Southern cities: Albany, Americus, 
Athens, Augusta, Columbus, Cordele, Covington, 
Dublin, Elberton, Fort Valley, Macon and Rome, 
Ga. ; Chattanooga, Nashville and Knoxville, 
Tenn. ; Montgomery, Ala., and Tampa, Jackson- 
ville, Plant City and Palmetto, Fla. Its capital 
stock is owned largely by small investors who 
hold a few shares each, hundreds of these inves- 
tors being salaried people. The president of the 
company, Mr. W. B. Baker, is more than a bus- 
iness genius. He is a student and a philosopher. 



INDUSTRY AT ITS BEST 275 

He sees in the manufacture of ice an industry 
that contributes vastly to the health, happiness 
and prosperity of the human family— an industry 
that ministers to the nursery and the sick room 
as well as to the banquet hall; that is as helpful 
to the farmer who is raising fresh vegetables for 
the market as to the great packing plant in the 
city — an industry, in brief, that touches human 
life and human happiness at practically every 
turn, and viewing it thus, he rejoices in maximum 
production at minimum cost, and in the posses- 
sion of facilities for distribution second to none. 
Not only so, but he sees behind the industry as 
well as in front of it ; sees the men who are pro- 
ducing the ice as well as the multitudes who are 
using it, and there is a human relationship exist- 
ing between this executive and the hundreds of 
men under him that is as refreshing as it is rare. 
He is especially interested in young men, and 
will go far out of his way to guide aright a young 
fellow who gives promise of amounting to some- 
thing in the world. 

So, while this enterprise is one of the greatest 
in Atlanta, it is also one of the most human — 
supplying a great human need in a human way, 
prospering and growing because through service 
it helps the South to prosper and grow. It takes 
the public into its confidence and has nothing to 
hide. Indeed, large sums are spent annually in 
order that the people may know exactly what it 
is doing and by what means it hopes to accomp- 
lish its designs. One of its advertising cam- 
paigns, put on last year, attracted national atten- 
tion. Printers' Ink, a leading journal of adver- 



276 ATLANTA 

tising, and numerous other publications, were 
attracted by the novelty of a great business or- 
ganization coming ''right out in print" and tell- 
ing the people all about its business, and devoted 
lengthy articles to it. When prices were up, the 
company told why they were up, giving plain fig- 
ures which anyone could understand, and, at the 
same time, it promised when conditions were 
such that reductions could be made, that prices 
would go down. And it kept its word, putting the 
price at 50 cents a hundred to residences at a 
time when sixty, seventy, eighty and even a dol- 
lar a hundred, was being paid in many commun- 
ities. 

To give even an outline of the history of 
mechanical refrigeration and to describe the pro- 
cesses in detail, would require much space and 
necessarily would include many scientific facts 
and technical terms, so only a brief summary will 
be attempted here. In order to produce steam 
for either heating or power purposes, heat is 
applied to confined water ; to overcome the effects 
of heat so that low temperatures may result, the 
same process is employed, but ammonia is used 
as the principal agent instead of water. In other 
words, the system of mechanical ice making or 
refrigeration is simply a reversal of the steam 
making process. 

Two methods are followed in the making of 
ice : One known as the compression, and the other 
as the absorption system. The latter is used only 
to a limited extent. With the former, heat is 
applied through compression of ammonia in an 
engine similar in design to the Corliss engine, 



INDUSTRY AT ITS BEST 277 

and sometimes called a heat engine. Ammonia 
enters the compressor 4n the form of gas, at 
about zero temperature, and after compression, 
leaves the machine at 220 degrees fahrenheit, or 
higher. By mechanical means the condensers are 
flooded with water, which absorbs the latent heat 
of the anmionia gas, and the ammonia, in liquid 
form, is pumped through pipes to the brine tanks, 
and then vaporized, thus reducing the tempera- 
ture of the brine water to a degree necessary to 
freeze the distilled water contained in the ice cans 
which are partially submerged in the brine tanks. 

The first employment of refrigeration was by 
the Hindoos, near Calcutta, India. The process 
was by the evaporation of boiled water, which 
was put in shallow earthen vessels and exposed 
to the air throughout the night. They would 
sometimes do this by making an excavation in 
a hillside and filling it with dry cane stalks, known 
as non-conductors of heat. Shallow pans of 
boiled water would be placed over the cane stalks, 
and at sunrise a thin coat of ice would have 
formed. History does not tell us for what pur- 
pose this ice was used, but we may imagine that 
a part of it at least went into the preparation of 
juleps for the Indian Nabobs. 

Early in the eighteenth century mechanical re- 
frigeration w^as employed in an experimental 
way, but with only partial success. The com- 
mercial ice industry of today is largely due to 
the discovery by Dr. John Gorrie (made in the 
year 1850) that refrigeration could be produced 
by the expansion of ammonia through the appli- 
cation of heat. Dr. Gorrie was a Southerner, and 



278 ATLANTA 

was then living in Apalachicola, Florida. This 
great scientist, a practicing physician, required 
a low temperature to control the fever with 
which one of his patients was suffering. In his 
experiments he discovered the principle now em- 
ployed, and he invented a refrigerating machine 
which actually produced ice. His statue is in 
the Hall of Fame at Washington, and his name 
will go down in history, together with that of Dr. 
Long, the discoverer of anesthesia, as one of the 
great benefactors of mankind. 

The first ice plant erected for commercial pur- 
poses, was in 1862, in Mexico, just across the 
border from Brownsville, Texas. The next plant 
was erected at Shreveport, La., in 1866. When 
ice from this plant was put on the market at 
Shreveport, it sold for $20.00 per ton. In 1904 
there were a total of 2,218 ice making plants in 
the United States, with a daily capacity of 66,- 
220 tons. In 1919 there were 5,117 plants, with 
a daily capacity of 187,864 tons. Today there 
are probably 7,000 plants, with a daily capacitv 
of about 300,000 tons. 

The Atlantic Ice Company has several plants 
in Atlanta, but the most modern is one just com- 
pleted at West End. Here, in a fire-proof build- 
ing of steel and concrete, equipped with the most 
modern machinery, ice is manufactured under 
conditions that are as near perfect as experience 
and ingenuity can suggest. A vast structure, 
embracing thousand of square feet, it is spot- 
lessly clean, and one who is privileged to pass 
through it and to see the processes by which pure, 
distilled water is transformed into shining blocks 



INDUSTRY AT ITS BEST 279 

of ice, is certain to leave with a higher apprecia- 
tion of the purity of the product and of the skill 
shown in its manufacture. 

On the high roofs of the building are two min- 
iature lakes, their "bottoms" being of pure 
asphalt, and above these lakes the water used in 
the cooling process is forever dancing in the air 
as it is whirled about by automatic sprays. From 
these *' lakes" the water thus cooled flows down 
upon the multiplicity of pipes where it serves the 
purpose of taking the heat out of the elements 
which have been busily engaged in extracting the 
heat from the water that is turned into ice. This 
water, by the way, is not that of which the ice is 
made. It is used for cooling and for nothing else. 
The water that is transformed into ice is drawn 
from the regular city pipes and is distilled before 
being frozen. 

It takes fifty-two hours to freeze a 300-pound 
can of water, and while the freezing process is 
going on a slender brass tube conveys air into 
the bottom of the tank, and this serves to keep the 
water agitated until the freezing process is com- 
pleted. The air used for this purpose is washed 
and dried before being used; another precaution 
on the side of safety, as the air we breathe car- 
ries many impurities. 

Candy is one of the products for which Atlanta 
is most famous. 

Sweets from this city have played an important 
part in courtships from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
and from the Lakes to the Gulf. 

Gallant and discriminating young men were 
"saying it with Atlanta candy" long before the 



280 ATLANTA 

belated idea of "saying it with Iflowers" Jiad 
originated, and the good work goes on. 

Atlanta candy is nationally advertised and na- 
tionally consumed and the annual output is 
enormous. Atlanta brands are as familiar to the 
North and East and West as. they are to the 
South, and everyw^here the fact is recognized that 
in the art of producing these delectable confec- 
tions, this city is unsurpassed. 

Not only has the City of Atlanta won the fine 
distinction of producing candy that is unsur- 
passed in quality and in variety, but here it is 
well understood that the peai^ has been reached 
in the matter of adornment. Atlanta candy is 
as beautiful as it is good, and the packages in 
which the higher grades appear are works of 
real art. To catch the full meaning of what is 
meant here, look into the windows of the great 
confectionery stores of the country during the 
coming Holidays. Note the wonderfully attract- 
ive way in which the dainty sweets are housed 
in boxes and baskets of the most artistic design, 
and the chances are you will be gazing upon the 
work of some of the master makers and packers 
of candy whose plants are in Atlanta. 

In view of the part that these confections play 
in courtship, as well as in the most pleasant rela- 
tionships of life, it is worth recording that 
romance had a part in the founding of one of the 
earliest of these enterprises and one which has 
gained enormous proportions. Away back yon- 
der when the forces of Johnston and Sherman 
were struggling for the mastery in the great con- 
flict between the states, and the fate of Atlanta 



INDUSTRY AT ITS BEST 281 

hung in the balance, there was in the Confed- 
erate ranks a young soldier by the name of Frank 
E. Block, whose home was in St. Louis. 

During the struggle about this city, this young 
soldier became so much impressed with its possi- 
bilities that he made up his mind that if he lived 
through the war he would locate here. How- 
ever, when the war ended and he found himself 
among the survivors, there was a matter that he 
wished to attend to before casting his fortunes 
with the then stricken city, and herein is where 
the element of romance enters. Back in Missouri 
there was a charming young lady whom he great- 
ly desired as a life partner, and when hostil- 
ities closed he returned there and was married. 
Then, with $25,000 in cash, which was a large 
sum in those days, he came with his bride to At- 
lanta and here laid the foundation of the great 
business structure that is known today as the 
Frank E. Block Company. 

This enterprise was started in the upper story 
of a building on Broad street between Alabama 
and Hunter, the structure being the property of 
Ex-Governor Joseph E. Brown. A warm friend- 
ship sprang up between Mr. Block and Governor 
Brown, and the latter came to admire greatly the 
business capacity of the former; so much so that 
presently he insisted upon erecting for Mr. Block 
a plant that which, for many years, was looked 
upon as the model manufacturing plant of At- 
lanta. This building still stands at the Southeast 
corner of Pryor and Alabama streets, and its 
splendid condition today testifies to the careful 
attention Mr. Block gave to its erection. Gover- 



282 A T L A X T A 

nor Brown furnished the money, but all the de- 
tails of planning and erection were left to Mr. 
Block. 

The company, Avhose market at the outset was 
limited to Georgia and parts of Alabama, is now 
selling its products in half the states in the Union 
and maintains a sales force of thirty-five people. 
Its advertising appropriation is one of the larg- 
est in the Southeastern states, and the publicity 
that is given its products through more than fifty 
ncAvspapers does much to keep Atlanta and the 
State of Georgia before the public. The plant is 
the largest of its kind in the South and one of 
the largest in the United States. It gives em- 
plo^Tuent to more than 700 people and the com- 
pany prides itself upon the fact that practically 
all of this great force is made up of Southern- 
born white people. Its payroll is said to repre- 
sent the largest percentage of Anglo-Saxons 
found in any plant of a similar character of which 
there is a satisfactory record. Another notable 
fact is that it has on its pay rolls more than a 
hundred people who have been connected with the 
enterprise for over 20 years. One of the 
reasons for this continuity of employment is that 
the company is zealous in fostering the welfare 
of every member of the big family. Evidences 
of this is found in the fact that it operates for 
its employes one of the most attractive cafes in 
Atlanta, where is furnished the best that the mar- 
ket affords at a very nominal figure. 

The company, in producing its candies, choco- 
lates, crackers, etc., uses a very large percentage 
of Southern products. Most of its sugar comes 



INDUSTRY AT ITS BEST 283 

from Savannah, most of its flour from Tennes- 
see and its pecans and peanuts from Georgia. 
A^Tien running at full capacity, the plant con- 
sumes a car load of Georgia peanuts every week. 
Officials of the company pay high tribute to the 
Georgia peanut and the Georgia pecan, saying 
that they are superior to any others. Its butter, 
the company obtains from Georgia and Southern 
Tennessee, while the coal consumed by the plant 
comes from North Georgia and Southern Tennes- 
see. 

In addition to the manufacture of candy and 
crackers, the Block Company makes its own 
boxes, cartons, tins, etc., the plants in which 
these things are produced keeping large forces 
busy at all times. 

This company, by the way, is said to have been 
the first to manufacture marshmallows in the 
United States. Oddly enough, however, it was 
not possible to market the product direct, and for 
a long time these Atlanta made marshmallows 
were shipped to New York, where they were dis- 
tributed to all parts of the country. The remark- 
able spectacle of marshmallows made in Atlanta 
being sent to New York and then sent back to 
Georgia, and other parts of the South, was wit- 
nessed during all these years — a condition due 
to the fact that for a long time the people of the 
South seemed to think that a thing to be good 
would have to come from the North! The Block 
Company made these marshmallows for seven- 
teen years before their manufacture became gen- 
eral, and the profit upon this one product had 
much to do with making the company the great 



284 ATLANTA 

institution that it is today. The present capacity 
of the plant is 250,000 pounds of candy and 200,- 
000 pounds of crackers per week — a total of 450,- 
000 pounds of products per week. 

Recreational features are encouraged by the 
company, which has a baseball team in the Atlan- 
ta Manufacturers League. These features com- 
mand much interest on the part of the employes. 

Mr. Frank E. Block, the founder of this enter- 
prise, died about two years ago, but it is moving 
on to increasing greatness under the presidency 
of Mr. Brooks Morgan, whose business genius 
is widely recognized. 

The Norris Candy Company, of Atlanta, is 
perhaps the largest exclusive manufacturers of 
strictly high grade candies. The plant consists 
of an eight-story building, modern in all its ap- 
pointments, including a plant for the manufac- 
ture of the dainty containers in which the wide 
variety of products go to the consumers. The 
*'raw material" for these products come from 
widely scattered sections. Georgia furnishes the 
pecans, strawberries and honey; Canada supplies 
the Maple sugar, Spain and Italy the almonds 
and France the walnuts. Chocolate comes from 
Trinidad and nuts from Brazil. F. E. Lowen- 
stein is president of the Norris Company, whose 
products go to practically every state in the 
Union and which are kept constantly before the 
public through the expenditure of about $100,000 
a year in national advertising. The Nunnally 
Company is another large producer of fine can- 
dies and another large advertiser in national pub- 
lications. In addition to these leading producers, 



INDUSTRY AT ITS BEST 285 

there are numerous smaller concerns, and Atlan- 
ta's annual output of high grade candy ap- 
proaches $5,000,000 in value. The local consump- 
tion of such candies is estimated at $300,000 per 
year. About 2,000 people, most of M-hom are wo- 
men, are employed in the industry. 

Those identified with the industry say that 
the Climate of Atlanta is ideal for candy manu- 
facture, being surpassed in this respect by few 
places on the globe. 

The ice cream industry also flourishes in this 
city the products going into a wide territory. 
And, of icourse, there are numerous manufac- 
turers of bread, cakes and similar products for 
the table. These manufacturers find an abundant 
source of basic ''raw material" at the great flour 
mills in their own community. 

Those who have taken the trouble to inform 
themselves concerning the early days of Atlanta, 
when it still was a struggling village with the fu- 
ture shrouded in doubt, must be struck by the 
frequency with which names that were familiar 
to the business life of the community at that far 
period, appear upon the sign boards today, testify- 
ing to the long life of many of the pioneer insti- 
tutions. This is particularly true of the great re- 
tail establishments which have done so much to 
convert Atlanta into one of the most popular 
shopping centers in the South. Such names as 
Rich, High, Chamberlain, Johnson and DuBose, 
are familiar in Atlanta today and were equally 
familiar long before the present generation came 
upon the scene. They emphasize the element of 
continuity which runs through the commercial 



286 ATLANTA 

fabric of the community, and bear witness to the 
permanency of the business structure. 

The store of M. Rich was founded in 1867, the 
founder being Morris Rich, who opened a modest 
little establishment upon Whitehall street which 
bore no resemblance whatever to the magnificent 
retail establishment of today, and still less to the 
magnificent new home of the firm which soon will 
be under construction and which will be the finest 
department store in the South. 

The J. M. High Company, another landmark 
among Atlanta's business establishments, was 
founded in 1880 by Joseph Madison High, a na- 
tive of Madison county, Georgia, who came to this 
city and entered the drygoods business when 
twenty-five years of age. The firm was first 
known as High & Herrin and was located at 46, 
48 and 50 Whitehall street. In a short time, the 
interest of Herrin was bought, and the firm con- 
tinued as J. M. High and Company. 

These houses, together with Chamberlain- 
Johnson-DuBose and Keely & Company, repre- 
sent a quartet of hardy pioneers that have added 
lustre to the fame of Atlanta as a shopping cen- 
ter. Many others are adding to this fame today, 
including such houses as Davison-Paxon & Stokes 
and J. P. Allen & Company. Among the whole- 
salers in this line, John Silvey & Company date 
back almost to the beginning. 

An Atlanta invention, out of which the inven- 
tor received nothing except increased convenience 
for himself, but which might have proved the 
basis of a fortune if it had been patented, is a 
side-door truck, or moving van. For years large 
and heavy moving vans have been blocking the 



INDUSTRY AT ITS BEST 287 

streets of American cities while backed up 
agains the curb for loading and unloading, and 
while every one recognized the fact that it was 
something of a nuisance, it seems not to have oc- 
curred to any one that it could be obviated by a 
very simple arrangement, until T. F. Catchcart, 
of Atlanta, designed a van having a door on the 
side of the car at the right hand front. Then the 
simplicity of the idea was seen at once, and now 
cars of this type are in use in many parts of the 
country, their number increasing constantly. 

Because of this new idea, the van can draw 
close against the curb and load or unload without 
blocking the street. But this is only one feature 
of the car designed by Mr. Cathcart, for in addi- 
tion to the door at the side, right up in front, 
there is a large space above the driver's seat 
where is stored the hea\^ quilted pads with which 
furniture is protected. The neatness of this ar- 
rangement, aside from the convenience, is found 
in the fact that the pads go on as the goods enter 
the van, and come off as the goods are unloaded, 
thus never leaving the interior of the van and 
never coming in contact with the ground or being- 
exposed to the weather. This idea, which Mr. 
Cathcart devised for the better handling of his 
own business, has been freely bestowed upon 
others. Magazines and newspapers all over the 
country have carried stories about it, and the rep- 
resentatives of various firms have come to At- 
lanta to see how the body is built, with the result 
that duplicates are now found in many other cit- 
ies. 



288 ATLANTA 

Mr. Catlicart, the inventor of this new form of 
hauling van, is at the head of a great warehouse 
concern in Atlanta, which is now engaged in the 
erection of the most modern storage warehouse 
to be found in the entire South. It is being built 
of steel and concrete, is seven stories in height, 
and will be as near fire-proof as a building can be 
made. 

The first floor of this building will contain the 
main offices, the packing room, the loading and 
unloading court, and a storage vault for silver- 
ware that will provide protection to valuables 
that is absolute. The walls will be 18 inches thick, 
of steel covered with concrete. The second floor 
will contain the private offices, piano rooms and 
trunk rooms, the latter being so arranged that 
any one having a trunk in storage may get to it 
at any time without the slightest delay or trouble. 
The third floor will be devoted to private rooms, 
with fire-proof doors of steel, and rug rooms, 
where the finest materials of this character may 
be stored without fear of damage. The four other 
floors will be devoted to storage as is generally 
understood, provision being made on the top 
floor for the care of automobiles in storage. 

Before making the plans for this magnificent 
warehouse, which is to take the place of three 
that are now in use, Mr. Cathcart visited the most 
modern places of the kind in the country, and the 
new Atlanta building will be what the contractor 
refers to as ''the last word." 

Thousands of people pass the comparatively 
small seed store of the H. G. Hastings Company 
on West Mitchell Street, every day and it is 



INDUSTRY AT ITS BEST 289 

doubtful if one-half of one percent of them know 
that back of this store is a vast building which 
houses the greatest mail order seed business in 
the South, and one of the very largest in the Unit- 
ed States. Yet this is a fact. Not only is it an in- 
stitution of great magnitude in the volume of bus- 
iness transacted annually, but it is of immense 
importance in the promotion of Southern agricul- 
ture along the best and most profitable lines. 

Mr. H. J. Hastings first engaged in the nursery 
and seed business in Florida twenty-three years 
ago, but when the great Atlanta Exposition of 
1895 was held he visited this city and here con- 
ceived the idea that a great mail order business 
might be established to serve the entire South. 
With this idea in mind, he paid repeated visits 
to Atlanta, investigating various phases of the sub- 
ject, and finally in 1897, came here to engage in 
business. He was won to the city by reason of its 
obvious advantages as a distributing center. 

When he started in business, the total floor 
space amounted to 7,500 square feet and the em- 
ployees, during the busy season, numbered from 
twelve to fifteen. As an evidence of the way in 
which the enterprise has grown, it may be stated 
that the floor space is now 100,000 square feet 
and the employees during the busy season num- 
ber from 250 to 300. At the outset he sent out 
35,000 catalogues. During the present year his 
distribution of catalogues was 1,500,000 copies 
and the postage bill was $85,000. The customers 
mailing list now contains more than a half mil- 
lion names. 



290 ATLANTA 

The supreme purpose of Mr. Hastings has been 
to develop for the South a seed business that 
could serve the South to the greatest possible ad- 
vantage. To this end countless experiments are 
carried on upon a large farm owned by the com- 
pany, and no effort is made to market anything 
that is not found by experience to be suited to the 
soil and climatic conditions of the South. A com- 
prehensive campaign of education is carried on, 
the purpose being to lead the agriculturist of the 
South into the adoption of the crops that are best 
suited to Southern conditions and which may be 
produced with the maximum of profit. Plants 
from all over the world are brought here and are 
subjected to exhaustive tests to determine their 
worth to the Southern producer, and the endless 
investigation and experimentation thus carried on 
has been and is a tremendous factor in adding to 
the profits of Southern farmers, fruit growers, 
etc. 

No plant in Atlanta better illustrates the fact 
that this city is an ideal location for any enterprise 
which seeks to cover the Southern territory, and 
its uninterrupted prosperity is a striking illus- 
tration of what may be accomplished when an in- 
stitution concentrates upon the needs of a people 
it is equipped to serve. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Adding Wealth to Atlanta 

THE magnitude of the steel industry in At- 
lanta is an unexpected revelation to the 
visitor. One looks for enterprises of this 
character in the great mineral sections of 
the country, but scarcely expects to find a gigantic 
establishment of the kind in the heart of the peach 
belt. Yet here is a far-flung enterprise, spread 
over some seventy-five acres, turning out products 
that penetrate all parts of the Southeast, and 
make their way into foreign lands. 

Vast, pulsing with activity, and manufacturing 
a wide variety of products, the plant of the At- 
lantic Steel Company constitutes a magnificent 
tribute to the advantages possessed by Atlanta as 
a distributing point — advantages that have made 
it easily possible to overcome what one might con- 
sider the disadavantage of being located outside 
of the iron producing centers. For this institution 
is a distinct and emphatic success. 

Started in 1901 with a view to manufacturing 
cotton ties for the South, and having only an 
eight-inch mill, it grew with prodigious rapidity 
and today is one of the great enterprises of the 
South, producing vast quantities of bars, nails, 
wire, hoops, spikes, cotton ties, woven wire and 
barbed-wire fencing, and producing its own steel 
for these purposes. 

Activities begin in this plant with the manufac- 
ture of steel, a process that is of never failing in- 



292 ATLANTA 

terest to the visitor because of the magnificent 
pyrotechnic displays by which the handling of the 
liquid metal is attended. The steel is made from 
Birmingham pig iron, mixed with ' ' scrap, ' ' which 
comes from all parts of the country. 

The manufacture of cotton ties and hoops in- 
voves another colorful operation, the thin bands 
of steel coming from the rolls in what seems end- 
less ribbons of fire, and serpentine performances 
of a similar character are witnessed in the wire 
mill, but most interesting of all is the department 
in which woven wire fencing is manufactured. 
The intelligence with which the great machines 
work is truly amazing, receiving multiplied 
lengths of galvanized wire and weaving them into 
patterns of varying widths and designs with a 
speed and accuracy that is truly wonderful. 

In point of color, the rod and tie mills have the 
advantage, but when it comes to noise, then the 
nail mill reigns supreme. Here, where machine 
after machine grinds out nails of all sizes, the din 
is terrific. These machines also work with what 
seems almost human intelligence, receiving wire 
from great spools at one end and turning out a 
shower of finished nails at the other. 

This huge and busy establishment is the out- 
come of a movement launched in 1900 by a num- 
ber of Atlanta business men who felt that the ad- 
vantages of the city as a distributing center, and 
its location with reference to the cotton belt, made 
it an ideal location for an industry of this char- 
acter. They organized the Atlanta Steel Hoop 
Company and in 1901 erected the first unit of the 
present great industry. This unit consisted of one 



ADDING WEALTH TO ATLANTA 293 

eight-inch mill. Steel billets were purchased in 
the open market. 

So successful was this enterprise, that it was 
decided in 1905 to begin the manufacture of steel, 
and an open-hearth furnace and blooming mill 
was built, together with a rod mill and a wire mill, 
and the name was changed to the Atlanta Steel 
Company. In December of 1915, the plant was 
purchased by a New York man, who sold it forth- 
with to the Atlantic Steel Company, the present 
owners, under whose proprietorship it has enjoy- 
ed continuous growth. 

The value of this plant to Atlanta from an ed- 
ucational standpoint is very great. Situated not 
far from the Georgia School of Technology and 
maintaining the most friendly relations, it is a 
prime factor in providing the opportunity for 
practical application of technical knowledge. The 
president of the Atlantic Steel Company, Eobert 
Gregg, is a ''Tech" man and hundred* of gradu- 
ates of this institution have been taken into the 
steel family over which he presides. 

Mr. Gregg, by the way, is the youngest man I 
have ever seen seated at the executive desk of a 
great industrial organization. He was graduated 
from the Georgia "Tech" in 1905, took a course 
at Cornell and then began work in the plant over 
which he now presides. Another big steel man in 
the South, who came from Georgia "Tech," is 
George Gordon Crawford, President of the Ten- 
nesse Coal, Iron and Kailroad Company, and 
other subsidiary organizations of the United 
States Steel Corporation in Alabama. 



294 ATLANTA 

To students of history, there is an element 
of interest in the fact that the wide-spread plant 
of the Atlantic Steel Company is situated upon 
the ground over which the Federals and Confed- 
^jrates fought after the former had forced their 
way across Peachtree Creek in the crusade to cap- 
ture Atlanta. A wilderness then, it remained so 
for many years after the war, but now evidences 
of a teeming life are found on every hand. 

The transformation that has been wrought is al- 
most unbelievable, and this great steel industry 
has been a mighty factor in bringing it about. The 
plant as it now stands consists of three 60-ton 
basic open hearth steel furnaces; one twenty-five 
inch blooming mill, one fourteen inch continuous 
billet and sheet bar mill, one semi-continuous ten- 
inch and eight-inch rod and bar mill, two hoop and 
band mills, two automatic and one hand-feed spike 
machines, fifty wire-drawing blocks, fifty nail ma- 
chines, two staple machines, twenty barbed-wire 
machines, fully equipped annealing and galvaniz- 
ing plants, and a cooperage plant for the manu- 
facture of kegs in which to pack and ship nails and 
staples. Serving all of these agencies is an elab- 
orate system of transportation, consisting of 
miles of railway track, locomotives and cars, trav- 
eling and locomotive cranes, conveyors and the 
like, by which both the raw and finished materials 
are handled with a maximum of efficiency. Im- 
mense warehouses add to the impressiveness of 
the whole. 

Atlanta has many other industries that are 
large consumers of steel. Farm machinery, 
agricultural implements, culverts and like pro- 



ADDING AVEALTH TO ATLANTA 295 

ducts are turned out upon a large scale, and there 
are many important foundries and machine shops. 
The largest overhauled locomotive business in the 
South is done in this city and here is found the 
largest rebuilt car and locomotive plants in the 
country. It also has one of the largest stove and 
range manufacturing enterprises in the South and 
one whose products have done much to make At- 
lanta famous both as a manufacturing and distrib- 
uting center. Stoves and ranges from this Atlanta 
plant have gone into the Southeastern states for 
thirty-three years, with an ever increasing de- 
mand. 

The experience of the Atlanta Stove Works is 
typical of the experience of many other industrial 
enterprises. Beginning business in 1889 with only 
one line of stoves, made in two sizes, this firm has 
grown until it turns out thirty-two different lines 
of cook stoves and heaters that are made up in 
over two hundred sizes. 

Since stoves and ranges are among the most 
essential articles of every day use and are found 
in practically every household in the land, per- 
haps a brief description of how they are made 
may be of interest. In the plant of the Atlanta 
Stove Works the point of beginning is at the fur- 
nace where the metal is melted. Near this fur- 
nace are the floors where the patterns are laid in 
the molds and the molds are made ready to re- 
ceive the molten metal. These molds are com- 
posed of a very fine, gritless sand which leaves a 
smooth surface, and the impression which is to be 
reproduced is made in the sand by means of a pat- 
tern, identical with the object to be reproduced. 



296 ATLANTA 

When the molds are made ready they stand in 
long rows, and then the molten metal is brought 
forward and "poured" into the molds. ^Vhen the 
metal has cooled off, then the molds are broken up 
and the parts, which have just been cast, are plac- 
ed in great "drums" which whirl around and 
around and tumble the parts about, during which 
process they are beaten with marbles and "spank- 
ed" with straps of leather until lingering grains 
of sand have been removed and a smooth surface 
has been produced. The parts are then ready for 
drilling and trimming, and when these processes 
are through with, each part goes to its proper 
place for assembly into a finished stove or range. 
Such parts as require nickel, go to the plating 
Toom, where they are plated, given a high polish, 
and then wrapped in tissue paper before being 
dispatched to the assembly room. 

In the assembly room the parts are so placed 
that each of the more than 200 different kinds of 
products may be put together with every leg, 
side, top, bolt, nut, etc., in easy reach. As each 
stove or range is assembled in this way, it goes to 
the store room and is ready for shipment, com- 
plete in every detail. 

The patterns from which the products are made 
are first produced in wood — a wooden part being 
made for every part that is to appear in the fin- 
ished stove or range, and many hundreds of these 
are required. These are known as "master pat- 
terns" and are highly expensive. They are used 
only to make the first perfect patterns of metal, 
and then the metal patterns are used thereafter. 

Atlanta has something like five hundred manu- 



ADDING WEALTH TO ATLANTA 297 

facturing establishments, covering a wide variety 
of products. Now a systematic and highly intel- 
ligent effort is being made to supplement the num- 
ber by adding thereto certain industries manufac- 
turing articles, the raw materials for which 
are easily available. To this end, a careful sur- 
vey has been made to determine what line of in- 
dustries are best adapted to this district and 
which would be most likely to prosper by reason 
of natural advantages. This fact having been de- 
termined, the Chamber of Commerce is making a 
special effort to develop enterprises along the 
lines suggested, rather than following a hap-haz- 
ard course. 

The survey in question w^as made by T. Poole 
Maynard, Ph.D., and it show^s that conditions in 
the Atlanta district are particularly suited to the 
manufacture of pigments, of oil cloth, refractor- 
ies, Portland cement, pottery products, wood- 
w^orking plants and paper. This survey based 
upon an accurate knowledge of the resources pos- 
sessed by the territory embraced in and contribu- 
tary to the Atlanta district, and having the weight 
of unusual technical knowledge, is of great value. 
It has been put in pamphlet form by the Chamber 
of Commerce and copies may be obtained on re- 
quest. 

The second great exposition given in the United 
States was presented in Atlanta in 1881 — the In- 
ternational Cotton Exposition. It followed the 
Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia by five 
years, and relatively was quite as great a success. 
But this is not a story of that exposition, but of a 



298 ATLANTA 

great industry which grew out of it and which is 
today one of the leading institutions of Atlanta. 

The main building of the International Cotton 
Exposition was an immense affair, built in the 
form of a huge cross, and it was erected for perm- 
anence. When the exposition had closed its doors 
a number of thoughtful citizens began to wonder 
if some practical use could not be found for the 
building. Finally a group of prominent citizens 
got together, and decided to organize a cotton mill 
company, with the exposition building as the basis. 
A company, thereupon was formed with Hugh T. 
Inman as President. They named the company 
"The Exposition Cotton Mills," and began im- 
mediately to carry their plans into execution. The 
grounds, which belonged to the city, were acquired 
by purchase, and improvements and additions be- 
gan at once. 

The success of the enterprise was immediate, 
and its record is one of continuous growth. As 
time went on, the old exposition building, as far- 
flung as it was, became entirely too small, and ad- 
ditional buildings were erected, with the result 
that today the enterprise covers many acres of 
ground and the original structure is overshadow- 
ed by immense new units. It has proved one of 
the great industrial successes of Atlanta, but this 
is not the most interesting feature relating thereto. 
One glance is enough to convince one that it is a 
human institution, not a mere manufacturing 
plant, for about it is an atmosphere that is differ- 
ent. Well kept lawns, blooming flowers, pleasant 
walks, all proclaim appreciation for that which is 
beautiful and harmonious. And when one probes 



ADDING WEALTH TO ATLANTA 299 

deeper, he discovers an even finer thing; for here 
the human element finds the highest appreciation. 
Here one finds a kindergarten where the little chil- 
dren of the mill are entertained while their tiny 
hands are trained and their eager minds are fed. 
Here also is a day nursery, where tots are tended 
by skilled nurses, and here is a free clinic, where 
employes may obtain the best attention. The 
building in which these, and many other activities 
are carried on, is a model of its kind. It contains, 
in addition to the nursery and the kindergarten, 
dining rooms, play rooms, dormitory, etc., while 
the spacious grounds in front contain swings, 
slides and other equipment designed to add to the 
joy of childhood. 

Clubs are numerous. There is a Mothers ' Club, 
club for boys and girls of varying ages, and clubs 
whose members apply themselves to sundry forms 
of execrise. Then there is a theatre, and a band — 
a band whose members not only furnish excellent 
music for the enjoyment of their fellows in the 
community, but who go out every now and then 
and give concerts for the enjoyment of others. For 
the thrifty there is a savings bank, where many 
employees are laying the foundation for future 
prosperity. The president of this company is 
George S. Harris, one of Atlanta's far-seeing ex- 
ecutives. 

The success of the Exposition Mill, had much to 
do with the growth of the cotton milling industry 
in the South. Expansion along this line was very 
slow for a number of years, but by 1890 it had 
been demonstrated in this Atlanta plant that en- 
terprises of this character could be made to sue- 



300 ATLANTA 

seed in a big way, and from that time on the estab- 
lishment of industries in this line became a not un- 
usual development. 

The Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills is another 
great industry that finds Atlanta a convenient 
point from which to distribute goods to the mar- 
kets of the world, and there are several smaller 
enterprises connected with the textile industry. 

Constituting as it does the automobile center of 
the South, where practically every manufacturer 
of cars and accessories have important agencies, 
it is eminently fitting that Atlanta should also 
have an automobile factory where machines are 
produced that are capable of holding their own in 
this field of relentless competition. 

The Hanson Motor Company, of Atlanta, has a 
large and thoroughly modern plant with a capac- 
ity of twenty cars a day. The organization spec- 
ializes on aluminum bodies, and a light, high-pow- 
ered, graceful and artistic product is turned out 
that is growing constantly in favor. Atlanta made 
cars appear on the streets of the great cities of the 
North and East as well as in the South and West, 
and they have been exported to Australia. New 
Zoland, India and South America. 

This company was organized in the spring of 
1918, with capital stock of $1,500,000 paid in, and 
a large modern plant was erected. Later the plant 
of the American Motors Export Corporation at 
Jacksonville, Fla., was taken over, this plant hav- 
ing been erected at a cost of $165,000. There are 
some four thousand stockholders in the Hanson 
Motor Company, of which George W. Hanson is 
the presiding genius. 



ADDING WEALTH TO ATLANTA 301 

Another important industry in this connection, 
is the assembly plant of the Ford Motor Com- 
pany; a huge and active enterprise which serves 
the Southeastern territory. 

The Kleiber Motor Truck is another Atlanta 
product that is widely known throughout the 
United States. It is made in a modern plant and 
is produced in practically every known type, from 
light business trucks to the heaviest type of oil 
tank and construction vehicle. The Kleiber Motor 
Truck Company began the manufacture of trucks 
in San Francisco years ago and the Atlanta plant 
was established about two years ago. It was 
quickly outgrown and the capacity is now to be 
more than doubled. The president of the com- 
pany is Paul Kleiber, of San Francisco ; the Gen- 
eral Manager Ed Kleiber, of Atlanta. 

Long before the idea dawned upon the masses 
that there was even a remote possibility of swing- 
ing doors and brass foot-rails going out of style, 
certain Atlantans, perhaps gifted with a sixth 
sense, began to prepare for a prolonged period of 
drouth, and when the Volstead act became a law 
and ^he people of this country found themselves 
without the morning cocktail, this city already had 
become distinguished as the "soft drink" center 
of the globe. 

Herein was another sharp departure from 
things as they used to be. In ante-bellum times to 
think of the ^outh was to visualize a wide veranda, 
upon which rested a distinguished looking Colonel 
whose garments were as white as the great round 
columns that supported the roof. By the Colonel 
was a table and upon the table was a tray, and 



302 ATLANTA 

upon the tray was a tall glass containing a nectar 
of some kind, and topping the glass was a spray of 
mint. That was the South of popular fancy. All 
Southerners were Colonels and all Colonels took 
their juleps. 

In the light of this conception of the South, of 
more than passing interest is the fact that the 
South led in the long, hard fight for National pro- 
hibition, and that practically all the South was 
"dry" before the country as a whole decided that 
it could get along without distilleries and saloons, 
and also without experiencing that which has been 
described as "the cold, gray dawn of the morning 
after. ' ' 

Coincident with the growth of prohibition 
sentiment in the South, there developed a new in- 
dustry which attained tremendous proportions — 
the manufacture of "soft," or non-intoxicating 
drinks. One of the most outstanding pioneers in 
this class originated in Atlanta, and has developed 
into a colossal industry. 

Coca-Cola was the first of these drinks to be- 
come nationally famous. Designed originally as 
a headache medicine, it developed into a beverage 
and became the basis of what is perhaps the great- 
est fortune in the Southern States. Its manufac- 
ture began in 1886, the output for that year being 
26 gallons of syrup. The business for the present 
year, 1922, will not fall below fifty million dollars. 
In 1886 the syrup was made in the basement of a 
drug store. Today there are plants in many parts 
of the country, and also in foreign countries. 

This concoction originated with Dr. J. S. Pemb- 
erton, who at that time operated a little labor- 



ADDING WEALTH TO ATLANTA 303 

atory at 107 Marietta Street. Dr. Pemberton was 
constantly experimenting and in 1886 he conceived 
the idea that there ought to be a drug of some kind 
on the market that one might take at soda foun- 
tains and obtain relief from headache. Just at 
this time the Kola nut was attracting widespread 
attention and it was hailed as a wonderful reser- 
voir of medicinal values, a sort of cure-all that 
was destined greatly to bless the human race. Dr. 
Pemberton used it in combination with coco and 
produced what he called the ''Ideal Brain Tonic," 
not a beverage but a remedy for aching heads. 

At this time Asa G. Candler, now reputed to be 
the richest man in the South, w^as the proprietor 
of a drug store and it was here that Dr. Pember- 
ton came for his supplies. In 1888, two years after 
the koko-colo combination had been made, the in- 
ventitive physician had become so indebted to 
Candler that he found it easier to sell out than to 
pay out, and he disposed of his plant to Asa G. 
Candler. Thereupon Samuel C. Dobbs, then a 
clerk in the Candler drug store, got a one-horse 
wagon and, going around to the Pemberton labor- 
atory, hauled the whole outfit to the drug store in 
one load. A little copper kettle was then set up in 
the basement for the manufacture of the syrup. 

The idea of using the preparation as a beverage 
rather than as a medicinal preparation was then 
adopted, as w^as the now famous line "Delicious 
and Refreshing." As a matter of course, the 
formula was changed somewhat when this decis- 
ion was reached, and when the new drink appear- 
ed it was received with a fair measure of favor. 
Bit by bit the business grew during the first year, 



304 ATLANTA 

and then Sam C. Dobbs was put on the road to 
pusli the proposition. A little advertising was also 
done, and to this there was some response. 

By 1892 the business had grown to such an ex- 
tent that Candler closed out his drug store and be- 
gan to give his entire time to the drink which had 
become known as Coca-Cola. The plant was mov- 
ed to a loft on Decatur Street. The next move was 
to an old residence at Auburn and Iv^- streets. 
Then, in 1896 came the first factory, erected at 
Edgewood Avenue and Coca-Cola Place. The bus- 
iness was growing now at a rapid rate, and pres- 
ently additional plants began to appear — one in 
Philadelphia, another in Chicago and a third in 
Los Angeles. Meanwhile the home plant was out- 
grown and a new building was erected on Mag- 
nolia Street; a structure designed upon such 
broad lines that it was deemed big enough to serve 
the purpose for years. But it, too, became inade- 
quate and in 1920 the great plant at North Avenue 
and Plum Street was erected. Meanwhile numer- 
our other plants were erected in this and in for- 
eign countries. 

Stock in the pioneer company, some of which 
was given away in the early days just to get im- 
portant firms interested in pushing the new drink, 
afterwards sold for fabulous sums — shares of the 
par value of $100 selling as high as $25,000 in a 
few instances. The enterprise was purchased re- 
cently bv Eastern financial interests who paid 
$25,000,000 for the holdings. 

The success of this drink is the most spectacular 
development in the history of the industry, but the 
story of the bottling end of the business forms a 



ADDING WEALTH TO ATLANTA 305 

good second. The bottling privilege was disposed 
of by Mr. Candler to J. B. Whitehead and Ben 
Thomas, of Chattanooga, for a very nominal con- 
sideration, his idea being to find new outlets for 
the syrup. Now the bottling business forms a col- 
ossal enterprise. Plants cover this and foreign 
countries, and the Chattanooga gentlemen have 
found their end of the business a veritable gold 
mine. 

Not only has the parent bottling concern grown 
inunensely wealthy, but large fortunes have been 
made by local bottlers. In fact a regular chain of 
millionaires has developed out of this end of the 
business. 

Typical among these bottling plants is that of 
the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Atlanta, 
whose owners have reaped a fine fortune out of 
the business. A remarkable place is this plant, 
where huge and complex machines perform mir- 
acles in sterilizing bottles, in handling ingredients 
with exactitude, and in delivermg a product that 
could not be handled half so well by hand, however 
eager one might be to observe all the rules of the 
sanitary code. A clear, sparkling and uniform 
product is the standard, and these intelligent ma- 
chines observe the requirements with a nicety that 
is little short of amazing. Every bottle is made 
sterile, every bottle receives the same amount of 
ingredients, and every bottle goes out sealed in 
identical fashion. 

While Coca-Cola leads the ''soft" drink indus- 
try by a wide margin, there are many others fol- 
lowing in the wake. The aggregate output is en- 
ormous, and Atlanta stands preeminent as a pro- 



306 ATLANTA 

ducer of thirst quenching beverages, all made 
under the most favorable conditions in an atmos- 
phere of competition that demands the best of 
which the producers are capable. 

Atlanta also enjoys the distinction of being one 
of the great proprietary drug centers of America. 
It is the home of several of the best known and 
most widely used medicines in the country, and 
the annual business runs into the millions. Per- 
haps the most spectacular success in this line is 
*'Tanlac,"of M^hieh over thirty million bottles have 
been sold in the last few years, and which made a 
large fortune for its promoter. There are scores 
of others, among the oldest and most familiar be- 
ing "S. S. S.." These products, nationally adver- 
tised and nationally used, not only bring large 
sums to this city every year but are a factor in 
keeping the community in the public eye. And, 
speaking of drugs, reminds me of an interesting 
development growing out of the drug business. 

The introduction of the penny, or one cent piece, 
into Atlanta, and the South for that matter, came 
about in the middle 'eighties, and was the result 
of an unusual drug trade development in this city. 

Prior to 1885, the five cents piece was the small- 
est coin in general circulation in the Southern 
States, though occasionally one encountered a 
large and queer looking coin of the value of two 
cents. It was the almost universal custom to close 
odd-cents transactions by giving the benefit to the 
one having the major interest. If a bill of mer- 
chandise came to $2.23 then the customer paid the 
merchant $2.25. If, on the other hand, the total 
was $2.22, the customer paid $2.20. There was, as 



ADDING WEALTH TO ATLANTA 307 

a rule, little appreciation on either hand of the 
value of the odd cent. 

This condition ran along until 1885, when Dr. 
Joseph Jacobs, a pioneer druggist of Atlanta, con- 
ceived and created the ''cut rate" drug store, now 
so common throughout the country. In inaugurat- 
ing this system, he decided to make the exact 
change, and to this end he had the Merchants Bank 
send to the mint and get him one thousand new 
pennies. These freshly minted coins, looking not 
unlike five dollar gold pieces, attracted much at- 
tention and became very popular, as did the idea 
cf making even change. In a little while it became 
necessary for the banks to order many thousands 
of these coins, and they quickly came into general 
use, not only in Atlanta but throughout the State. 

The spectacular success achieved by the "cut- 
rate ' ' Atlanta store, and the widespread advertis- 
ing it received as the result of the bitter and sus- 
tained fight made against it, resulted in many oth- 
er enterprises of a like character being opened 
throughout the South, and soon the once despised 
penny had come into its own. All lines of business 
began to take advantage of the popularity of this 
little coin, goods which theretofore had been sell- 
ing for one dollar being marked down to ninety- 
eight cents, etc. Dainties for children, which had 
been sold for so many years for a nickel, appeared 
at a cent each, and thus the idea spread until final- 
ly the penny slot machine appeared, with its nu- 
merous offerings, and until the World War sent 
the price of white paper sky-rocketing, papers 
selling for one, two and three cents were publish- 
ed in a number of Southern cities. 



308 ATLANTA 

In view of the universal application of the cut- 
price idea at this time, it is interesting to recall 
the excitement it created when first introduced, 
but difficult to realize the intensity of the feeling 
that it served to arouse. It attracted national at- 
tention. Trade journals were full of it; the daily- 
newspapers carried the latest developments, and 
legal aspects of the proposition were fought out 
in the courts. Feeling was intense, adjectives of 
every conceivable kind being hurled at Dr. Jacobs, 
as well as those. who sought to follow in his foot- 
steps. Many wholesale houses and manufacturers 
refused to sell to the cut-rate stores, and it requir- 
ed numerous legal battles to establish the right of 
these concerns to buy goods and to sell them at 
their own prices. However this right finally was 
established, and today these cut-rate stores are 
found in practically every city. That they were 
born in Atlanta is not generally known, but it is a 
fact, and the man who initiated the plan is Dr. 
Joseph Jacobs, who still is engaged in business 
here, operating a drug store that was started in 
this city by Dr. James Taylor in 1854. Dr. Jacobs 
came here in 1884 from Athens, where he had 
opened a drug store in 1879. He purchased the 
Taylor Drug Store upon his arrival in this city, 
and today it is one of the most famous institutions 
of its kind in the country, due to its identification 
with the cut-rate movement. 

For man years Atlanta has been the only city 
South of Philadelphia in which all-steel doors, 
steel mndows and steel stairways are manufac- 
tured, and during all this time the -svisdom of 
using fire-proof materials has been proclaimed 



ADDING AVEALTH TO ATLANTA 309 

throughout the South. As a result one observes 
that tremendous progress has been made in fire- 
proof construction during the past fifteen years. 
Builders who once were satisfied with materials 
that retarded flames now demand, for the best 
construction, materials that are impervious to 
flame. 

The pioneers in the manufacture of these non- 
inflamible building materials, are the Dowman- 
Dozier Manufacturing Company, whose inmiense 
plant is the outgrowth of a little shop established 
some twenty-two years ago, and which played a 
rather inconspicuous part until Graham P. Doz- 
ier, now the executive head of the enterprise, con- 
ceived the idea that the great need of the South 
was for a type of construction that would make 
impossible the enormously heavy losses occasion- 
ed by fire, and which would also bring about ma- 
terial reductions in the large sums Southern 
owners had to pay for protection against loss 
from this source. 

The w^eak points in Southern construction, as 
he saw it, were windows, doors, stairways and 
roofs, and painstakingly he began to produce ma- 
terials which would correct these defects. Hav- 
ing begun the production of hollow steel doors, 
windows and so forth, he was not satisfied with 
his own conclusions as to their merit, but took the 
goods to the famous Underwriters' Laboratories 
in Chicago and stood by while they were put 
through the most exacting tests. As an illustra- 
tion of how these tests are made, it may be stated 
that one of these hollow steel, Atlanta made win- 
dows was built into a brick wall at the Under- 



310 ATLANTA 

writers' Laboratories and then subjected to a fire 
test of one hour's duration, the fire being direct- 
ed against the weather side of the window and 
registering one thousand five hundred degrees — 
a temperature several hundred degrees higher 
than will be encountered in the most serious con- 
flagration . At the end of this period, while the 
steel frame and the wire-glass still were at an en- 
ormously high temperature, a stream of water 
was turned on the window by a fire hose at a dis- 
tance of only twenty feet. When the window was 
cooled after this rigid test, the points of the sash 
members sill were intact and the window was se- 
curely in position. The flames did not get through 
the window at any point, even after the glass be- 
came softened when the temperature reached 1360 
degrees. This test established the fact that the 
window was what the makers wanted it to be, and 
so with the other products. 

In order to be in position to guarantee to users 
that every piece of material turned out was equal 
to those tested in Chicago, this Atlanta firm ar- 
ranged for all of its products to be inspected by 
the Underwriters Laboratories, and from that 
day to this the goods carry a label which shows 
that before they left the factory they had under- 
gone the rigid inspection of this great agency in 
the promotion of fire prevention. 

The value of these products has been extens- 
ively advertised and as a consequence, Atlanta 
has furnished the doors and windows for many 
of the South 's most superb hotels and office 
buildings, all of this equipment being manufac- 
tured by the Dowman-Dozier Company. In addi- 



ADDING WEALTH TO ATLANTA 311 

tion to making hollow steel doors, windows and 
stairM^ays, and sundry patterns of rooling, the 
company turns out immense quantities of con- 
ductor pipes, ridge rolls, conductor heads, vol- 
utes, ventilators, metal ceilings, skylights, orna- 
mental cornices and the like. It is not only an im- 
portant Atlanta industry but an enterprise that 
is important to the entire South, because of the 
vigorous missionary work it carries on to save 
money for Southern property owners by cutting 
down fire losses and reducing fire insurance 
rates. 

During the World War, the Dowman-Dozier 
plant practically was taken over by the Govern- 
ment, its use being tendered by Mr. Dozier, and 
here almost impossible feats were performed in 
supplying the vast quantities of metal requirer 
in the erection of cantonments in Atlanta, in Ma- 
con, in Montgomery, in Anniston, in Augusta and 
other Southern cities. Mr. Dozier was left in 
complete charge of the plant and under his super- 
vision stupendous quantities of materials were 
turned out in record time, the total output being 
iimnensely greater than the owners had conceiv- 
ed to be possible. In speaking of the calls made 
upon his plant during that time of stress, and the 
apparent impossibility of supplying the ever in- 
creasing demands, Mr. Dozier paid a fine tribute 
to the men in the ranks. He said: ''When the 
demands grew far beyond all expectations and 
came, backed by such urgent appeals for prompt 
delivery — as the cantonments had to be made 
ready without a moment's loss of time — I would 
get the boys together and explain the situation to 



312 ATLANTA 

them, saying 'Our country calls and now is the 
time to show what is in us,' and then they would 
go to it. This made the performance of miracles 
possible, and we were enabled to deliver the goods 
in every instance." 

Among the many splendid buildings in Atlanta 
that are equipped with Atlanta made doors and 
windows of steel, and wiiich have metal molding 
etc., made by this plant, are the magnificent new 
Fulton Count}^ Courthouse, the Ansley Hotel and 
the United States Government building. All 
through the South buildings of similar import- 
ance are found to be equipped by the same organ- 
ization in the same Avay. 

An inteersting feature about this type of door 
and window is the finish. They are turned out in 
any color, or in imitation of any kind of wood, 
and ma}^ easily deceive the eye. The next time you 
see a beautiful door of polished mahogany in a 
great office building, hotel or public building, ex- 
amine it closely, or make inquiries, and the chanc- 
es are that it is an all-steel door, made in Atlanta, 
and that it was put there for the purpose of furn- 
ishing the maximum of safety. Even bird's eye 
maple is so skillfully imitated that close examina- 
tion is necessary to detect the fact that one is 
looking at steel instead of wood. 

Another unusual Atlanta enterprise whose 
products go into far places, is the plant of the 
Bailey-Burruss Manufacturing Company, operat- 
ing an establishment at East Point, which is one 
of Atlanta's busy industrial suburbs. This firm 
manufacturers and designs elevating, conveying 
and transmission machinerv for oil mills, fertil- 



ADDING WEALTH TO ATLANTA 313 

izer factories, cement plants, milling plants, etc., 
and machinery for cleaning, handling and screen- 
ing. Its products not only go into all parts of the 
South but are shipped to the North, East and 
West and find their way into foreign countries. It 
is an enterprise that knows no geographical lim- 
itations, and it carries the fame of Atlanta as a 
manufacturing center into far places. Even 
China is represented among the foreign coun- 
tries whose manufacturers have purchased equip- 
ment from this Atlanta concern. The president 
of the company is J. 0. Bailey, an engineer of 
wide practical knowledge and a really great ex- 
pert in his particular line. 

Still another Atlanta manufacturing plant 
whose products are known far and wide, and have 
been so known for many years, is that of the At- 
lanta Show Case Company. This enterprise was 
started in 1885 in a small building on Decatur 
Street, being located up-stairs over a saloon. Here 
a few old-fashioned show cases, such as used to 
be placed upon the counters in stores, were turn- 
ed out. The business grew and attracted the at- 
tention of competitors in Nashville, Tenn. They 
came to Atlanta and bought the plant, largely 
with a view to getting rid of it, but investigation 
convinced these gentlemen— the present owners 
—that Atlanta was an ideal site for such an en- 
terprise, and instead of closing the shop and tak- 
ing the machinery and materials to Nashville, 
they concentrated their energies toward its fur- 
ther developmet. The result is the magificent 
business of today. 



314 ATLANTA 

It i!:^ an interesting fact that a child was re- 
sponsible for the creation of the modern show 
case, with its sheen of glass going practically to 
the floor. 

One day a child came into the old Smith Drng 
Store on Whitehall and Mitchell Streets, where 
Jacob's store now is, and tried to look at some 
candy in one of the old-time cases that stood upon 
the counter. She could not see, and Patrick J. 
McGuire, now General Manager of the Atlanta 
Show Case Company, held her up so that her eyes 
could feast upon the candy. Mr. McGuire, in giv- 
ing the child a lift so that her vision would be un- 
obstructed, thought of his own childhood, when 
he was prevented from seeing as much of the good 
things of life as he wished to see, and then he con- 
ceived the idea of a show case with the glass go- 
ing down to the floor, so that little folks might en- 
joy an unobstructed view of the contents. He 
immediately designed such a case, and today 
show cases of this type are seen in stores all over 
the country. 

The new style of show case was produced 
at once by the Atlanta Show Case Company, but, 
odd as it may seem, it took a long time to con- 
vince merchants that they could get better re- 
sults by doing away with the high counters and 
displaying their goods in these modern cases. 
However, the new idea won out because it was in 
the direction of progress — and helped the chil- 
dren to see. , 

With five show case factories in Atlanta today, 
the industry is on a high plane and the annual 
output is enormous, the goods going into all parts 



ADDING WEALTH TO ATLANTA 315 

of the South, and even into other sections of the 
country. The pioneers in the industry are Edwin 
Davis Kennedy, President of the Atlanta Show 
Case Co., and "Pat" McGuire, referred to above. 
F. P. Provost, President of the Atlanta Show 
Case Company, and another pioneer behind this 
important industry, makes his home in Nashville. 

Reference has been made to the fact that At- 
lanta is the great "agency center" of the South. 
This, one might say, is a generally accepted fact, 
but one cannot sense the importance of the pro- 
position unless he has had occasion to go through 
some of the many great sky-scrapers that grace 
the architecture of the City. Here is a typical 
illustration of what one finds: Occupying al- 
most an entire floor in the towering Candler 
building, is the American LaFrance Fire Engine 
Company, Southern division. This establishment 
is known to every town and every city through 
the South, and very few of these but have had oc- 
casion to do business here. From hamlet to 
metropolis, throughout all this mde section, city 
and town officials have bought fire equipment here 
for years and years. Indeed, there is scarcely a 
point in the South where purchases have not been 
made through this agency, and its value in 
spreading the fame of Atlanta is beyond compu- 
tation. P. 0. Herbert, the veteran manager, has 
educated the Southland to look to Atlanta for fire 
equipment, and the work has been so thorough 
that comparatively few orders seep through to 
other sections of the country. 

A kindred agency is maintained in Atlanta by 
the Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraph Company, 



31() ATLANTA 

and through this agency fire alarm systems have 
been installed in scores of Southern communi- 
ties. A recent installation was one of approxi- 
mately a quarter of a million dollars in Birming- 
ham, Ala. Mr. Burst, the manager, is of a type 
that is familiar in Atlanta, where great manu- 
facturing concerns have stationed their most cap- 
able sales directors. 

These expert salesmanagers, coming from all 
parts of the country, and representing the pro- 
ducers of practically everything the human fam- 
ily has need of, represent a considerable part of 
Atlanta's population, and to them, and the great 
army of salesmen they send out, Atlanta owes 
much of its fame as a live and hustling city. 

Speaking of Atlanta as a manufacturing cen- 
ter, and particularly with reference to the divers- 
ity of products, a leading industrial figure in this 
field said to me: "One might start in and buy an 
Atlanta made article every day in the w^eek, pur- 
chasing a different article each time, and it would 
be more than two years before the variety of pro- 
ducts would be exhausted." 

After on extensive investigation of the field, I 
am persuaded that this gentleman minimized the 
situation, for I verily believe that the figurative 
shopper he referred to might go on for tmce two 
years before he exhausted the possibilities in this 
City. There is the item of bridges. One may buy 
them in Atlanta in infinite variety. If he wishes 
to span a great river, then he can get as many 
great steel spans here as he needs, and if it is a 
mere creek that he mshes to bridge, a suitable 
structure may be obtained. Bridges of all kinds 



ADDING WEALTH TO ATLANTA 317 

and descriptions are made in this City. The Aus- 
tin Brothers Bridge Company have an immense 
plant at East Point, an Atlanta suburb, and here 
spans for all purposes are turned out. These 
bridges, like many other Atlanta products, go in- 
to all parts of the country, and the chances are 
that the reader, in going from point to point in 
the South, has ridden over them time and time 
again, for few trains move in this section without 
crossing these Atlanta made bridges. 

The Austin Brothers Bridge Co. have a mod- 
ern steel plant equipped to fabricate nearly every 
sort of steel structure. Their specialty in manu- 
facturing being highway bridges and all kinds of 
structural steel for buildings. 

In addition to manufacturing steel bridge ma- 
terial they make a specialty of erecting steel 
bridges, including concrete piers and abutments, 
as well as creosoted timber pile trestles, which 
frequently are required to make a complete erected 
bridge. They also warehouse and distribute from 
Atlanta county road building machinery and op- 
erate actively in their various lines in the terri- 
tory included from Virginia to the Mississippi 
River. The business was started in 1906 under 
the name of Austin Brothers, consisting of Frank 
E. Austin of Dallas, Texas, and Geo. L. Austin of 
Atlanta. The plant was located at Greenwood 
Avenue and the Southern Railway until 1921, 
when the business was moved to the present site 
and the new plant built. The company maintain 
sales offices at their plant, with traveling en- 
gineers covering the territory, prepared to de- 



318 ATLANTA 

sign and estimate on proposed bridges and build- 
ing steel 

The Austin Brothers Bridge Co. was incorpor- 
ated in 1918. Its officers are: Geo. L. Austin, 
President; J. K. Barcroft, Vice-Pres., and Robt. 
C. Clonts, Secretary and Treasurer. 

Austin Brothers, a Texas corporation, with 
Frank E. Austin, Pres., have a similar plant at 
Dallas for business west of the Mississippi River, 
and the two plants co-operate to their mutual 
benefit. 

The establishment of the business in Atlanta 
may be traced to the exposition held in 1895. At 
that time, Geo. L. and Frank E. Austin were liv- 
ing at Dallas and, as Austin Brothers, were 
Southern agents for the Geo. E. King Bridge Co., 
of Des Moines, la. 

Geo. L. Austin visited the exposition in 1895 
and in January, 1896, came to Atlanta and, for 
Austin Brothers, represented the Iowa Bridge 
Company until 1906, when they retired from busi- 
ness and Austin Brothers succeeded them. 



CHAPTER XIX 

Growth of Utilities 

THE matter of lighting the streets of the 
city was one of the first public utility 
problems about which the citizens con- 
cerned themselves. 
When the population had reached the 2,500 
mark, it was felt that the town must by all means 
have street lights. This was in the year 1850. 
The subject of a water supply system was 25 
years in the future, and gas for cooking purposes 
had not been thought of. The possibility of street 
railway transportation was yet two decades in 
the future. 

By 1853 the question of street lights had be- 
come one of the pressing problems of the hour. 
In the minutes of the City Council of that year 
it is reported "That the matter of lighting the 
city was seriously grappled with by this Council, 
and on March 25th, 1853, a resolution was adopt- 
ed which required that a lamp be placed on Mar- 
ket street (now Broad street) Bridge, and that 
street lamps be placed at such other points in the 
City as they were most needed at the expense of 
the City, provided the citizens in the neighbor- 
hood of the lamps, would agree to supply the lamps 
with the necessary illuminating fluids." 

On the third of March, 1854, a proposition to 
light the City with coal gas was presented to 
Council. A committee was appointed to investi- 



320 ATLANTA 

gate the proposition and to report back to Coun- 
cil. After a thorough investigation the commit- 
tee reported that nearly all of the citizens were 
anxious for a coal gas works to be established 
in the city. The committee was of the opinion, 
however, that it would be impossible at that time 
to raise by popular subscription the considerable 
sum necessary for carrying out the enterprise, 
and that the finances of the city were at such a 
low ebb that it was inexpedient for Council to 
make an appropriation. 

In August, 1854, the lighting question was 
again revived by the appearance on the scene of 
Mr. C. Monteith. Mr. Monteith had been inter- 
ested in the establishment of a gas works at 
Columbus and was considered quite an authority 
on the manufacture of gas for lighting purposes. 
He discussed the subject at considerable length 
and was asked a number of questions by mem- 
bers of Council. He gave it as his opinion that 
a gas plant sufficient to supply the City of Atlan- 
ta would require an expenditure of $32,000.00, but 
nothing tangible was accomplished in the matter 
of establishing a gas plant. 

In February, 1855, Council again took up the 
gas proposition with Mr. William Helme, a gas 
works expert and promoter of Philadelphia, Mr. 
Helme came to Atlanta in the spring of 1855 and 
at several successive meetings of the City Coun- 
cil explained his gas proposition. These meetings 
resulted in Mr. Helme submitting to the City a 
proposition substantially as follows: 

To erect a coal gas works, to lay pipes 
in the streets, alleys, etc., of the City of 



GROWTH OF UTILITIES 321 

Atlanta for lighting the same and the 
public and private buildings therein, to 
enter into a contract securing to him 
among other things the exclusive priv- 
ilege of so lighting the city for a period 
of fifty years. 

Council was to erect at least fifty street 
lamps and to pay for lighting the same 
the sum of $30.00 each per annum. 

The property of the Gas Company was 
to be free from taxation. 

The entire cost of the plant was esti- 
mated at $50,000.00, and the City of At- 
lanta was required to take $20,000.00 of 
the Company's stock, paying therefor a 
like amount of City bonds bearing in- 
terest at the rate of 7 per cent per an- 
num. 
The foregoing proposition was embodied in an 
ordinance which was passed by Council with 
practically no opposition, the Mayor being em- 
powered to close the contract with Mr. Helme in 
accordance therewith. 

A gas works was constructed in pursuance of 
this contract and presumably operated continu- 
ously from the time of its completion in Decem- 
ber, 1865, when the city was first lighted by gas 
on Christmas Day, until Sherman passed through 
Atlanta in 1864, when the plant was put out of 
commission. 

In 1866 the Company announced that it Avas 
ready to~resume the manufacture of gas both for 
private and public use. Gas was turned on for 
the first time after the war on the 15th of Septem- 



322 ATLANTA 

ber, 1866, and from that day to this there has 
been no interruption in the service furnished by 
the Atlanta Gas Light Company. 

The facilities of the Company have been ex- 
tended from time to time to satisfactorily meet 
the growing demands of the public for service. 
Effective as of January 1st, 1920, the proper- 
ties of the Atlanta Gas Light Company were 
leased to the Georgia Railway & Power Company 
and are now operated as the Gas Department of 
that Company. 

It is interesting to note in passing that the num- 
ber of employes of the Georgia Railway & Power 
Company at the present time greatly exceeds the 
entire population of the City of Atlanta when 
the gas works w^as established in 1855. It may 
also be of interest to note that the present num- 
ber of employes of the Georgia Railway & Power 
Company and their families aggregate a greater 
number of people than the total population of 
the City of Atlanta as late as the year 1860. 

The first franchise to an electric light and 
power company was granted by Council in the 
year 1882. The following transcript was taken 
from report of the committee on lamps and gas 
of the City Council for the year 1884 : 

'*A contract was made last year with 
the Georgia Electric Light Company to 
erect a few lights, more as an experi- 
ment to test their efficiency than anything 
else, and we expect the Council of 1885 
will see the contract consummated and 
the tests thoroughly made, and hope that 
our City will not lag behind other cities 



GROWTH OF UTILITIES 323 

of lesser prominence, push and energy 
in the matter of well lighted streets." 

The Committee of Council on street lighting in 
1886 reported: "AVe have put up during the year 
three lights, Imaking 25 electric lights now in 
use. ' ' 

The electric light and power industry was 
reorganized in 1891 and started off on the first 
of January, 1892, under a new organization and 
management. At that time the Company had an 
installed steam station capacity of about 1,800 
horse-power and during the year added 800 addi- 
tional horse-power. At that time there were in 
operation 305 arc lamps of 200 candle-power, and 
614 incandescent lamps of 65 candle-power. The 
electric light company continued under the same 
management, namely, the Georgia Electric Light 
Company, until the organization of the Georgia 
Railway & Electric Company in 1902, and was 
conducted by that Company until January 1st, 
1912, when the property of the Georgia Railway 
& Electric Company was leased to and operated 
by the Georgia Railway & Power Company. 

Since the completion of the Tallulah Falls De- 
velopment of the Georgia Railway & Power Com- 
pany in 1913 it has been the main source of the 
electric light and power supply of Atlanta. This 
development is about 86 miles from Atlanta on 
a bee line. According to statistics recently com- 
piled by the Railroad Commission of Georgia, 
Atlanta now enjoys the third lowest average 
power rate of any city in the United States. 

The idea of introducing street railways in At- 
lanta assumed definite form in 1866. During that 



324 ATLANTA 

year the Atlanta Street Eailroad Company was 
incorporated by an act of the Georgia Legisla- 
ture. During the year 1871 a permanent and 
effective organization was formed. The most 
prominent men in the organization were Colonel 
G. W. Adair, Richard Peters, John H. James and 
Mayor Benjamin E. Crane. The first officers of 
the Company were Richard Peters, President; 
Colonel G. W. Adair, Secretary and Treasurer, 
and J. H. James, J. R. Wylie, Benjamin E. Crane 
and W. M. Middlebrooks, Directors. 

The first street railway line built was com- 
pleted in 1871 and was known as the West End 
Line. This line started at the railroad crossing 
on Whitehall street, extended out Peters street 
and terminated at Camp Springs. Owing to the 
increased number of steam railroad tracks at 
Peters street the tracks on Peters street were 
taken up in 1882 and a connection was made with 
the Whitehall street line, by passing through a 
tunnel built under the Central Railroad. This 
line was three miles in length. 

The Marietta street line was first operated in 
January, 1872. It first ran from the junction of 
Marietta and Peachtree streets out Marietta 
street, terminating at the Rolling Mills. In 1880 
it was extended to the Cotton Exposition Mills, 
and in 1888 a branch line was built to Peachtree 
street, passing the Technological School. The 
length of this line was two and a half miles. 

The Decatur street line was built from the 
junction of Marietta and Peachtree streets out 
Decatur street to Oakland Cemetery and was first 



GROWTH OF UTILITIES 325 

used in May, 1872. It was extended to Boulevard 
in 1888 and represented two miles of track. 

The Peachtree street line was first operated in 
August, 1872. It then extended from the rail- 
road crossing at the corner of Whitehall and Wall 
streets out Peachtree street to Ponce de Leon 
Circle. 

The Capitol avenue line extended from the 
corner of Alabama and Whitehall streets out Ala- 
bama and Washington streets and Capitol ave- 
nue. It was extended to Georgia avenue in 1888, 
which made it two miles in length. 

The Whitehall street line was first operated 
in 1874. It then extended out Whitehall street 
to McDaniel street. A connection was made with 
the West End line in 1882. 

The Gate City Street Railway Company was 
organized in 1881. In 1884 L. DeGive, L. B. Nel- 
son, A. M. Reinhardt and John Stephens built a 
line starting in front of the Kimball House on 
Pryor street and passing through Pryor, A\'Tieat 
and Johnson streets to Ponce de Leon Springs. 
This line was operated by the original builders 
until January, 1887, when it was acquired by J. 
W. Culpepper and E. C. Peters and by them 
leased to the Atlanta Street Railroad Company. 
In October, 1887, the location of the road was 
changed so as to run out Jackson street to Ponce 
de Leon avenue and thence to Ponce de Leon 
Springs. A branch line was built to Piedmont 
Park. This line was three miles in length. 

The Atlanta Street Railroad Company was 
managed and controlled by the original officers 
and directors until 1878 when Colonel G. W. 



326 ATLANTA 

Adair's interest in the Company was purchased 
by Richard Peters who acquired about four-fifths 
of the entire capital stock of the $300,000 out- 
standing. From 1878 to 1888 the officers of the 
Company were Eichard Peters, President, J. W. 
Culpepper, Secretary and Treasurer, and E. C. 
Peters, Superintendent. In 1888 the Companj^ 
owned 18 miles of track, fifty cars and 250 horses 
and mules, and gave employment to about 100 
men. 

The Metropolitan Street Railway Company 
was organized in 1882. The officers were J. W, 
Rankin, President, W. L. Abbot, Vice-President, 
and W. A. Haygood, Secretary. The Directors 
were Jacob Haas, L. P. Grant, W. A. Haygood, 
W. L. Abbot and J. W. Rankin. This Company 
operated two lines, one called the Pryor street 
line, which commenced on Pryor street at the 
Union Depot and extended out Pryor street to 
Fair street, along Fair street to Pulliam street, 
thence to Clark street, along Clark to Washing- 
ton street, out Washington street to Georgia ave- 
nue and on Georgia avenue to Grant Park. It 
also operated a branch line from Georgia avenue 
along Washington street to Pryor street and out 
Pryor street to Clark University. The other line 
was known as the Park line. It branched off 
from Pryor street out Hunter and extended out 
Hunter street to Frazier street, thence to Fair 
street, passing Oakland Cemetery and extending 
out Park avenue to Grant Park. 

In June, 1888, a new company, of which Aaron 
Haas was President and W. H. Patterson Secre- 
tary and Treasurer, purchased this road. They 



GROWTH OF UTILITIES 327 

subsequently laid new rails along the entire route 
and they employed dummy engines for pulling 
their cars. 

The West End and Atlanta Street Railroad 
Company was incorporated in 1883. This Com- 
pany put cars in operation on the following 
routes : 

From Marietta street on Broad street south to 
Mitchell street, thence to Thompson, thence to 
Nelson, thence to Walker, thence to Peters street 
through Jamestown to West End and West View 
Cemetery. 

The officers of the Company were T. G. Healey, 
President, T. J. Hightower, Vice-President, J. A. 
Scott, Secretary and Treasurer, and B. F. Curtis, 
Superintendent. 

There were in Atlanta in 1890 only two lines of 
electric railroad, one being the Edgewood Ave- 
nue line running from the Equitable Building to 
Inman Park and the other being the Fulton Coun- 
ty line which operated what was known as the 9- 
mile circle route. These two lines together oper- 
ated only about 10 or 12 miles of track. Prac- 
tically all of Atlanta's electric lines have, there- 
fore, been constructed since 1890. 

Including horse car lines, dummy lines and el- 
ectric lines Atlanta had in 1890 about 45 miles of 
street railroad track. In 1900 the total mileage 
of electric railways had increased to 138, all lines 
having been converted into the overhead trolley 
system. 

The Atlanta Railway & Power Company was 
originally formed in 1891 as the Atlanta Consol- 
idated Street Railway Company, absorbing the 



328 ATLANTA 

several horse car lines then in existence and con- 
verting the same in the year 1891 and subsequent 
years into electric lines. 

The Atlanta Rapid Transit Company, form- 
erly the Chattahoochee Railway Company and 
subsequently the Collins Park Belt Railway 
Company, was organized in October, 1900. The 
first survey of this line was made March 28th, 
1891, by Mr. Jerome Simmons, and the first work 
of grading was started July 18th, 1891. 

The first car on the River Line was run on 
May 8th, 1892, and the receipts for the day for 
the two cars aggregated $33.60. 

In 1897 the Consolidated Street Railway Com- 
pany had 66 miles of track and 100 cars, 50 of 
which were operated regularly, and furnished 
employment to between 400 and 500 men. 

At the same time (1897) the Atlanta Street 
Railway Company had lines from the center of 
the City to Fort McPherson, Grant Park, De- 
catur and Lakewood, aggregating in all about 20 
miles of track. It is stated that this road was ex- 
ceptionalh^ well equipped for that time. During 
the winter season its cars were heated by elec- 
tricity and the ends of the cars were enclosed with 
glass for the protection of the motormen. 

In 1902 the Georgia Railway & Electric Com- 
pany was formed and acquired the properties 
and franchises of all the then existing street rail- 
way, electric light and steam heat companies in 
the City of Atlanta, consisting of the Atlanta 
Railway & Power Company, Georgia Electric 
Light Company, the Atlanta Rapid Transit Com- 
pany, and the Atlanta Steam Heat Company. 



GROWTH OF UTILITIES 329 

The original directors of the Georgia Railway & 
Electric Company were as follows: 

T. Jefferson Coolidge, Jr., C. R. Spence, H. M. 
Atkinson, J. L. Hopkins, A. W. Calhoun, W. P. 
Inman, F. E. Block, J. C. Hallman, R. D. Spald- 
ing, E. P. Black, A. E. Thornton, Anthony Mur- 
phy, R. F. Maddox, Thos. Egieston, P. S. Ark- 
wright. 

The original officers were as follows : 
H. M. Atkinson, Chairman of the Board of Direc- 
tors. 
P. S. Arkwright, President. 
G. W. Brine, Vice-President & Treasurer. 
D. A. Belden, Vice-President & Manager of Rail- 
ways. 
J. G. Rossman, Vice-President & Manager Elec- 
tric Department. 
T. K. Glenn, Vice-President & Secretary. 

H. M. Atkinson was instrumental in organizing 
the Georgia Railway & Power Company, and the 
lease by it of the properties of the Georgia Rail- 
way and Electric Company. Since that time Mr. 
Atkinson has been Chairman of the Board of the 
Georgia Railway & Power Company and in that 
capacity has financed the construction of all of its 
water power developments in Northeast Georgia. 

P. S. Arkwright served as President of the 
Georgia Railway & Electric Company from its 
formation in 1902 until the date of the lease of its 
properties to the Georgia Railway & Power Com- 
pany when he became president of the latter com- 
pany and has served in that capacity continuously 
up to the present time. 



330 A T L A X T A 

The Georgia Railway & Electric Company con- 
tinued to operate the street railway, electric light 
and power and steam heat properties until Jan- 
uary 1st, 1912, as of which date they were leased 
to the Georgia Railway & Power Company under 
a lease agreement dated March Sth, 1912. 

At the time the properties were merged into the 
Georgia Railway & Electric Company in 1902 
there were 132 miles of street railway track in the 
City of Atlanta and the Company owned and oper- 
ated 106 cars. As of January 1st, 1922, the Geor- 
gia Railway & Power Company had 226 miles of 
track in the City of Atlanta and vicinity, exclusive 
of the Atlanta Northern Railway, the aggregate 
mileage including the Atlanta Northern Railway 
as of January 1st, 1922, being 241 and the number 
of cars owned 423. 

The Georgia Railway cc Power Company now 
carries on an average of about 206,000 passengers 
per day, which means that the number of persons 
carried dailv is equal to the entire population of 
the City. 

The number of people on the pay rolls of the 
Georgia Railway & Power Company at present is 
approimately 3200. Assuming that each employee 
supported an average of five people, the employes 
of the Georgia Railway & Power Company with 
their families, if segregated into one tovm or city, 
v.'ould make a to^^^l of about 16,000 people, which 
would be a town of approximately the size of Ath- 
ens, Georgia, and the eighth largest citv in the 
State. 

One of the most striking evidences of Atlanta's 
growth is found at the Terminal Station, a com- 



GROWTH OF UTILITIES 331 

manding structure erected eighteen years ago and 
which was to ' ' meet the needs of the City for fifty 
years," but which must today undergo extensive 
enlargements in order to meet the demands be- 
ing made upon it. 

The great train shed, which was the wonder of 
the people back in 1905, is to be done away with 
entirely, and in its place will come a series of far- 
flung "butterfly" sheds long enough to accommo- 
date trains of sixteen coaches each. The present 
shed was built to care for trains of six coaches, 
and the change which is now to be made furnishes 
a striking illustration of the enormous extent to 
which transportation facilities have expanded 
during this comparatively brief period. Under 
the schedule of improvements, which are to cost 
from $150,000 to $200,000, the tracks will be re- 
arranged so that much more room will be provid- 
ed for trains and that they may be handled with 
greater facility. 

One of the facts about this great station, which 
few people in Atlanta know, is that it houses the 
third largest Government Railway Post Office 
in the United States. Of the enormous volume 
of mail flowing into this postoffice, only about 
one-tenth goes to the Atlanta office, the balance 
being distributed to all parts of the South. The 
employes number 125, and the place is one of 
the busiest in the entire city. 

The extent and magnitude of the operations car- 
ried on in and about this great terminal is perhaps 
sensed by few who pass through its portals in the 
course of travel. In addition to being a center from 
which one hundred and tAventv-five trains are 



332 ATLANTA 

operated daily, and where the third largest vol- 
ume of mail in the United States is handled in 
transit, it is in many respects a great department 
store and hotel combined. There is a force of 
335 employes, with a pay-roll of $65,000 per 
month. 

The Southern Railway Company, the Central 
of Georgia Railroad Company and the Atlanta 
and West Point Railroad Companj^ were among 
the original organizers of the Atlanta Terminal 
Company, and have used the station since its 
completion. Others using it include the Seaboard 
Air Line and the Atlanta, Birmingham and At- 
lantic, the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis, 
operates the Dixie Flyer, and the Louisville and 
Nashville operates the Southland trains through 
this station. The Terminal Compan}^ also furn- 
ishes and handles the occupancy of the American 
Express Company and the Southeastern Express 
Company. 

An electric plant is operated which generates 
125,000 kilowatt hours for light and heat, supply- 
ing the Southern Railway general office build- 
ing, the American Railway Express building, the 
Southeastern Express building. Central of Geor- 
gia freight building, the Pintch Gas Compressing 
Company, Van Noir and Union News buildings, 
the N. C. & St. L. charging plants, besides the elec- 
tricity for the sheds and the electrically operated 
switches. 

There are two towers, equipped with 162 levers 
for operating s^^^tches, and five and a half miles 
of track, fifteen of which are parallel, and eleven 
of which are serving trains, while four are used 



GROWTH OF UTILITIES 333 

for storage purposes. Two shifting engines are 
in operation, handling the makeup and movement 
of trains. 

The first floor of the main station contains an 
immense waiting room, flanked by smaller waiting 
rooms and rest rooms, and here a restaurant, 
quick lunch room, news stand, soft drink stand, 
cigar stand, etc. All of these, together \\dth a 
barber shop, shoe shine parlor, pressing club, 
laundry, bath rooms, etc., are operated by the 
company. The second, third and fourth floors 
are occupied by the Atlanta and West Point, the 
Central of Georgia and the AYestern of Alabama 
railroads as general offices. The heating plant 
has just been provided with two 229 horse power 
Babcock and Wilcox boilers, coincident with the 
installation two flues were erected, 150 feet high 
and 72 inches in diameter. This plant provides 
the necessary heat for buildings and for heating 
trains while under the shed. The enlargements 
and improvements just made are preliminary to 
the general enlargement and rearrangement of 
the shed and tracks. 

The Atlanta Terminal Company was organized 
February 10, 1903, the petition for incorporation 
being signed by J. S. B. Thompson, W. H. Tay- 
loe, L. L. McClaskey, W. A. Vaughan, J. L. Ed- 
wards, David W. Appier, Warren G. Fogg, L. 
V. Kennerly, William A. Stokes and Otis M. 
Ezell. The charter was granted the following 
day, and on the same date a stockholders meeting 
was held at which J. W. English was elected pres- 
ident, J. S. B. Thompson, secretary, and W. D. 
Bevmer, auditor. Directors were chosen as fol- 



334 ATLANTA 

lows: J. W. English, J. S. B. Thompson, D. W. 
Appier, L. V. Kennerly, J. L. Edwards and W. 
H. Tayloe. 

At a meeting held on April 27, 1903, the pres- 
ident reported that the land upon which the sta- 
tion subsequently was erected, could be bought 
for $675, 351.32. The property was owned by the 
Central of Georgia and the Southern, the sum 
each was to receive being, Central, $558,006.00; 
Southern, $117,345.32. The president also re- 
ported that the Southern, the Central and the 
Atlanta and West Point Roads had agreed to use 
the new station. It was agreed to purchase this 
property and to issue bonds in the sum of $1,- 
500,000, bearing four per cent interest, to pay 
for the same and to finance the erection of the 
terminal. 

Work of erecting the terminal progressed rap- 
idly, and on May 13, 1905, the great structure was 
thrown open to public inspection. Many thous- 
ands of people passed through and admired the 
building because of its beauty and completeness, 
and the event was looked upon as a land-mark in 
the progress of the City. It was thrown open for 
use at 3 o'clock on the morning of May 14, 1905, 
and has been continuously in use since that date. 

A little over a year after the completion of 
the terminal, in December, 1906, came the death 
of Samuel Spencer, president of the Southern 
Railway, and a great friend of Atlanta. The 
directors of the Atlanta Terminal Company held 
a meeting on December 10 and adopted resolu- 
tions of regret at the untimely end of this srreat 
executive, and later the monument to Mr. Spen- 



GROWTH OF UTILITIES 335 

cer, which faces the Terminal Station, was 
erected as a tribute to his memory. 

The president of the Atlanta Terminal Com- 
pany is R. B. Pegram, the superintendent being 
E. F. Stollenwerck. Aside from seeing that 125 
trains are handled properlj^ each day ; that thous- 
ands of passengers are provided with tickets and 
are directed to their trains; that many tons of 
baggage are handled without error ; that patrons 
of the railroads are given opportunity to get what 
they want to eat and to read, and are furnished 
with facilities for telephoning and telegraphing, 
for getting shaved and having their clothes 
pressed, for getting weighed or obtaining a taxi, 
for checking their parcels or getting information 
about the movement of trains, here and at con- 
necting points, and seeing that hundreds of cars 
are made clean and are provided with ice water 
and are in proper physical condition before leav- 
ing the shed, the officials of the Terminal Com- 
pany have little to do except to keep an infinite 
variety of accounts and to see that all charges 
are properly distributed among the numerous 
utilities which take advantage of the terminal 
facilities. The smoothness with which these 
functions are performed becomes a source of 
amazement when one learns how large and how 
diverse are its activities. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Revival of Ancient Order 

HISTORY offers no parallel to the growth 
which has followed the organization of 
the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in the 
City of Atlanta seven years ago. During 
this brief period a fraternal, patriotic association 
that was formed by a few men and with no ex- 
pectation that the borders of its influence would 
extend beyond the South, has grown into an organ- 
ization which penetrates every part of the country 
and which numbers its membership by the hun- 
dreds of thousands. 

More surprising still is the fact that this amaz- 
ing growth has come about in the face of such 
hostility as has been encountered by no other 
fraternal body known to human history. Storms, 
the fury of which would have dashed to pieces 
the ordinary society, have been beaten upon the 
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan — and the organi- 
zation has groMTi. Powerful newspapers have 
concentrated a relentless fire upon the Klan, 
seeking to rout it by means of thunderous edi- 
torials and screaming headlines — ^but it has 
grown. Certain members of Congress, prompted 
by powerful influences, attempted its destruction, 
found it indestructable and retreated — and the 
Klan grew in membership. Anti-Klan societies 
were formed and waged their merciless warfare 
of opposition — yet the Klan rides on and on over 
every obstacle athwart its path. 



REVIVAL OF ANCIENT ORDER 337 

Certainly nothing to equal the intensity of the 
fight upon the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan has 
been witnessed in America or elsewhere, nor has 
there been seen anything comparable to the man- 
ner in which it has gone forward in the face of 
this tremendous crusade of opposition What 
then is the source of this extraordinary vitality, 
the incentive for this amazing growth! — a growth 
that is all the more remarkable when one remem- 
bers that the Klan limits its membership to 
white, native-born, Gent'le American citizens, — 
a rule which automatically bars thousands who 
are eligible to membership in many fraternal 
organizations. 

Many answers have been given to the questions 
which spring from this extraordinary situation, 
perhaps the best of which is that the Knights of 
the Ku Klux Klan constitute an organization 
which meets the demand for a purely American 
fraternity, dedicated to the preservation of 
American ideals and institutions and the sover- 
eignty of the white race. Upon no other basis can 
the development of a reincarnated institution that 
was strictly Southern into a tremendous associa- 
tion that is fast becoming international, be ac- 
counted for. It is being embraced by the North as 
well as the South and by the East and West as 
eagerly as by the North and South. No association 
of men actuated by ideals of a sectional nature 
could make an appeal so universally acceptable. 
And herein one may find vindication (if vindica- 
tion is needed) for the Ku Klux Klan of half a cen- 
tury ago. That pioneer organization was sec- 
tional only in a geographical sense. Its member- 



338 ATLANTA 

ship was made up of men from all parts of the 
country and its mission was the saving of the 
civilization of the nation. 

The original Klan was born in the South as a 
result of despotic conditions that were forced 
upon the South at the time of reconstruction. It 
was formed to protect womanhood and childhood ; 
to conserve property; to prevent lawlessness; to 
bring order out of chaos; to maintain white 
supremacy in an hour of dire peril — in brief, 
to save our civilization, and it functioned in the 
South because the womanhood and childhood of 
the South were threatened; because here cher- 
ished institutions were dangerously imperiled and 
the very blood of the Caucasian race was serious- 
ly threatened with an everlasting contamination. 
Had the women and the children and the institu- 
tions of a liberty loving people been so threatened 
in Indiana or in Ohio or in any other political 
sub-di^dsion as they were threatened in the 
South, then the Klan would have been as quick 
to answer the call in those states as it was to 
answer the summons in Georgia, in Alabama or 
in the Carolinas. Necessity, however, never de- 
manded action on the part of the Klan outside 
of the South and its operations continued to be 
sectional. But its ideals never were; they re- 
mained as wide as human need itself. 

A deep student — Colonel William Joseph Sim- 
mons, LL.D., became profoundly impressed by 
an intimate study of the results achieved through 
the operations of the Knights of the Ku Klux 
Klan when the South faced the gravest crisis in 
its history and, noting the problems with which 



REVIVAL OF ANCIENT ORDER 339 

the nation is confronted today, he conceived the 
idea of reviving the ancient order; of bringing 
to life the dormant influences which had wrought 
so much in former times and of bending these 
influences to the task of meeting the problems 
that confront the race and nation in this day and 
generation. He desired, not the modus operandi 
of the original Klan, "but to preserve, perpetuate 
and make active the same spiritual purpose ; and 
to perpetuate the memory of those valiant heroes 
who served in the ranks of the original Klan; 
and to create an institution for the purpose of 
teaching, inculcating and imbedding into the 
hearts of our people the sacred and sublime 
principles of real Americanism." 

At the time this idea was conceived twenty 
years ago. Colonel Simmons was a very young 
man; at the time he organized this Order (seven 
years ago) he was schooled in the purposes and 
ideals and accomplishments of the original Ku 
Klux Klan. Not only so but he was a close stu- 
dent of the complex problems facing American 
national life, and it occurred to him, having 
spent fifteen years in careful study and research, 
that an organization dominated by the ideals of 
the Old Klan and dedicated to the solution of 
the new problems would have a wide field of use- 
fulness. 

In 1915 Colonel Simmons felt that the country 
was ready for the revival of the Ku Klux Klan. 
As one close to him expressed it: "He felt that 
as a people we were becoming heterogeneous; 
that we had developed into sectionalists — indi- 
vidualists; that our traditions, which should 



340 ATLANTA 

represent a priceless heritage, were being neg- 
lected by Americans and destroyed by aliens; 
that enforcement of the law too often became 
subservient to the whims of politicians, — justice 
giving way to individual influence. ' ' 

Communicating his ideas to a number of inti- 
mates. Colonel Sinmions found they were con- 
curred in, and in the fall of 1915 he decided that 
the hour for this historic revival was at hand. 
Therefore, accompanied by thirty-three close 
friends, three of whom were bona tide members of 
the original Klan, he went to the top of Stone 
Mountain — that great granite peak — and there 
on Thanksgiving night at midnight went through 
the solemn ceremony of resurrecting and bring- 
ing into active life the ancient order. He did not 
foresee nor could anyone have realized that in 
a few years this ceremony would have been re- 
peated thousands of times and that the little 
company of thirty-four would be multiplied by 
tens of thousands. Yet it was to be so. The 
movement started that night upon the bare, bold 
knob of Stone Mountain was destined to spread 
throughout the country with the irresistable force 
of a mighty tidal wave. , 

At the outset the growth was confined largely 
to the South but here it was rapid and of an order 
that stood for permanence. Leaders of commerce 
and industry, professional men, ministers of the 
Gospel, statesmen, soldiers, men from every walk 
of life, became enrolled, taking upon themselves 
obligations said to be the most solemn and patri- 
otic ever administered. 



REVIVAL OF ANCIENT ORDER :341 

In 1920 Edward Young Clarke, whose father 
was one of the founders of the Atlanta Constitu- 
tion, was appointed Imperial Keagle, or Chief of 
the Organization Department, by the Imperial 
Wizard. Under his leadership Klan organizers 
crossed the Mason and Dixon line early in 1921. 
The results were amazing. The North responded 
immediately and enthusiastically and within nine 
months practically ever^' Northern state had its 
Klans and the light of the fier>' cross had been 
seen upon many Northern hills. 

One qualified to speak for the Organization 
gives the following description of its plans and 
purposes, which is given in a somewhat extended 
form because of the widespread interest which 
has been aroused in this remarkable organiza- 
tion: 

"The Klan is a AMiite Man's organization 
exalting the Caucasian race and teaching the doc- 
trine of AVhite Supremacy. This does not mean 
that we are enemies of the colored and mongrel 
races, but it does mean that we are organized 
to establish the solidarity' and realize the mission 
of the White Rar-e. Purity of the White blood 
must be maintained. One of the crying evils of 
the time is the mixture of White blood with that 
of the Negro. This evil has gone on since Colon- 
ial days until p<^rhaps more than half of the Ne- 
groes in the United States have some degree of 
White blood flowing in their veins. This condi- 
tion is not only biologically disastrous but is giv- 
ing rise to grave social problems. 

"It is a Gentile Organization and as such has 
as its mission the interpretation of the highest 



342 ATLANTA 

ideals of the White Grentile peoples. We sing 
no hymns of hate against the Jew. He is in- 
terested in his own things and we are exercising 
the same privilege of banding our own kind to- 
gether in order that we may realize the highest 
and best possible for ourselves. 

* ' The Ku Klux Klan is an American Organiza- 
tion, and we restrict membership to native-born 
American citizens. The records show that re- 
cently, at least, the aliens that have been flooding 
our land have come into this coimtry, not because 
of any love for America, but because of intoler- 
able or unfavorable conditions in the land they 
left behind. They come to this country, not that 
they might contribute in any way to its growth 
and development, but that they might find oppor- 
tunity to advance themselves and to serve their 
o^\Ti interests and oftentimes to serve the interests 
of the land from which they come and to obey 
the mandates of governments of which they are 
still the subjects. In their hearts there is the tie 
that still binds them to the home-land; to them 
it is still the Fatherland. Their syiupathies are 
still there; their thoughts have been shaped by 
the currents in the old country. They do not 
easily readjust themselves, and thousands never 
do. So we find the groups: Irish- Americans, 
German- Americans and all kinds of hyphenated 
Americans. A^^at pleasure would they find or 
what service could they render in this organiza- 
tion which is distinctively an American-American 
organization? And we have organized to engen- 
der a real spirit of true Americanism, that Amer- 
icanism which is a system based on a principle of 



REVIVAL OF ANCIENT ORDER 343 

utter antagonism to monarchism, whether repre- 
sented by emperor, king, potentate, or pope. 

"It is a Protestant organization. As such, 
membership is restricted to those who accept the 
tenets of a true Christianity, which is essentially 
Protestant. We maintain and contend that it is 
the inalienable right of Protestants to have their 
own distinctive organization. We can say to the 
world without apology and say truly that our 
fore-fathers founded this as a Protestant country 
and it is our purpose to re-establish and main- 
tain it as such. While we will energetically main- 
tain and proclaim the principles of Protestantism 
we will also maintain the principles of religious 
liberty, as essential to the life and progress of 
this nation; and we will vigorously oppose all 
efforts to rob the American people of this right. 

''And it becomes necessary to devise some 
means for the protection of White blood and 
ideals. 

''The Klan stands for the development of a 
higher standard of citizenship. We ourselves 
must come to know what it means to be citizens 
of this foremost nation in all the earth. We need 
to have knowledge of the privileges and responsi- 
bilities and glories of our citizenship. And we 
need to be under the necessity for exercising our 
citizenship intelligently. We must learn and 
practice these things in order that we may teach 
them to others. One of the great political parties 
must be forced to champion fundamental Amer- 
ican principles that will hasten the development 
of our country or else a new party must come 
into being. As the matter now stands we must 



344 ATLANTA 

cast our ballots for the right as it is most nearly 
represented and championed by men regardless 
of political party. 

*'We stand for the enforcement of law by the 
regularly constituted authorities. This Order 
does not take the law into its own hands and will 
not tolerate acts of lawlessness on the part of its 
members. Any man of any kind or creed who 
charges the Ku Klux Klan with being an organi- 
zation which fosters and perpetrates acts of law- 
lessness and deeds of violence is either wilfully 
blind or is a malicious slanderer who because of 
prejudice seeks to destroy an Organization that 
is law-abiding and that demands law enforcement 
by those who have been duly elected to office. We 
are within our rights as American citizens when 
we demand of men who are put in office of trust 
that they shall faithfully perform the duties of 
their offices. It is quite evident that those who 
oppose us on this principle do not want the laws 
of our country enforced, and are seeking to cover 
their anarchistic spirit by impugning our motives 
and imputing criminality to us. 

''We take our stand upon the Declaration of 
Independence as the basis of popular govern- 
ment. This document denies the dogma of des- 
pots — that kings rule by divine right. It as- 
serts that governments derive their just powers 
from the consent of the governed. It solemnly 
affirms the right of the American people to gov- 
ern themselves as a free and independent nation 
— independent of all outside sovereigntv and con- 
trol. 



REVIVAL OF ANCIENT ORDER 345 

"We believe in upholding the Constitution of 
the United States. This document reduces to 
practice the precepts of the Declaration and must 
be recognized as the supreme law of the land. 
It guarantees that liberty which must be cher- 
ished as the precious heritage of the American 
people. It establishes the freedom of institutions 
dear to the American heart. It guarantees Relig- 
ious liberty, the freedom of speech and of press, 
and all the rights that pertain to the people who 
constitute this nation. It depicts ideals and de- 
fines institutions that must be made real and kept 
secure. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan are 
sworn by a solemn oath to uphold and defend this 
immortal Constitution. 

''We teach that the citizen's first and highest 
allegiance is to the Government of these United 
States. No other government, potentate, sect or 
person of any kind shall share in this allegiance. 
We maintain that a divided allegiance means no 
allegiance. There can be no half American, and 
any sort of hyphen absolutely makes impossible 
any kind of loyalty to the American government, 
its ideals and institutions. 

''We stand for the American flag, against 
enemies without and within. We emphasize de- 
votion to this flag of our country as the ensign of 
our American nationality and the emblem of our 
national honor. A man stands wholly for the 
Stars and Stripes or else to him his country's 
flag is only a rag. We insist that no flag shall 
fly above our flag and that no flag shall float by 
its side. 



346 ATLANTA 

*'We say that no one shall be allowed to oir- 
cumscribe the influence and hinder the progress 
of American institutions, and this involves the 
welfare and development of the public school 
system. To those who seek to undermine or de- 
stroy this American institution we sav 'hands 
off.' 

"We magnify the Bible as the basis of our 
Constitution, the foundation of our Government, 
the source of our laws, the sheet-anchor of our 
liberties, the most practical guide of right living, 
and the source of all true wisdom. 

"We teach the worship of God, having in mind 
the divine command — 'Thou shalt worship the 
Lord thy God.' 

"We honor the Christ as the Klansman's only 
criterion of character, and seek at His hands that 
cleansing from sin and impurity, which only He 
can give. 

"We believe that the highest expression of life 
is in service and in sacrifice for that which is 
right; that selfishness can have no place in a 
true Klansman's life and character; but that he 
must be moved by motives such as characterized 
our Lord and moved Him to the highest service 
and the greatest sacrifice for humanity's supreme 
good." 

Atlanta is the National headquarters of the 
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The administra- 
tion building known as "The Imperial Palace" 
is a beautiful structure of massive colonial type, 
located on Peachtree Road five miles from the 
heart of the city. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Millions for Improvements 

WITH four million dollars being put into 
new school buildings, the educational 
facilities of Atlanta in a short time 
will be in keeping with the high intel- 
lectual standards which long have been main- 
tained. That improved and enlarged facilities 
were needed long has been recognized, and the 
work of meeting this need has gone forward with 
a thoroughly intelligent grasp of modern re- 
quirements, but those familiar with the progress 
of the schools will concede that there is little 
room for improvement in methods. Atlanta's 
school system is widely recognized as one of the 
most progressive in the United States, and the 
work being done here has attracted the attention 
of educators throughout the country. 

This City was one of the first to recognize the 
fact that the function of the public school is not 
merely to train the mind. Here its work has 
been viewed in the broad light of human need, 
and the schools have become mighty agencies, 
both in the development of the mind and body 
and m the awakening of an adequate apprecia- 
tion of the responsibilities that are imposed by 
citizenship. Better citizens, better equipped, is 
the ideal, and the beneficial influences of the sys- 
tem are not limited to those or normal endow- 
ment. It reaches and helps those who have been 
afflicted with physical and mental handicaps, and 



348 ATLANTA 

is doing a tremendously important work along 
these lines. Even the blind are brought within 
the scope of its gracious influence and are 
equipped to meet and master the problems of life. 
The Atlanta schools are pioneers in this most 
laudable work and great credit is due for the 
splendid results which have been accomplished. 

The cultural aspects of the work being done by 
the Atlanta public schools also have attracted 
widespread attention. Indeed, it is doubtful if 
any schools anywhere have received more univer- 
sal commendation than came to the schools of this 
City as the result of a remarkable presentation 
by the students in the Dramatic Department of 
the Girls' High School. Their dramatization of 
the sixth book of JEneid, in which some three 
hundred of the young people participated, has 
been witnessed scores of times in various cities 
throughout the country, and everyw^here it has 
won the warmest commendation. 

In this remarkable presentation of a familiar 
Latin play proved a revelation. It gave to aU 
observers an appreciation and knowledge of Vir- 
gil such as no amount of study could have im- 
parted. Not only so, but it served to create a 
newer and higher appreciation of the dramatic 
art in the interpretation of the classics. It demon- 
strated that young girls, having no other equip- 
ment than that made by their own hands, could 
visualize and make real that which was in the 
mind of the master of expression, the great cre- 
ative genius, as it could not be visualized in any 
other way. 



MILLIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS 349 

This production was filmed and no sooner had 
it been presented before two large audiences in 
the Atlanta Auditorium, than requests for the use 
of the film began to come in from other cities. 
With each presentation in other cities, requests 
for its use multiplied, with the result that it has 
been shown before tens of thousands of people, 
and today the demand for it is such that it will 
take a year to fill the engagements that have been 
booked. It has been praised by such men as Dr. 
Charles Knapp, of the chair of Latin and Greek 
of Bernard College, Dr. John Noble McCracken, 
president of Vassar College, and by many other 
distinguished educators, as well as by leading 
newspapers and by the heads of educational 
organizations. 

The Semi-Centennial of the public schools of 
Atlanta was celebrated during the present year, 
the system having been inaugurated in 1872, at 
a time when there was much opposition to the 
idea of popular education at the expense of the 
public. It is to the credit of Atlanta, that the 
fight for the free public school was launched 
early in the life of the community, as pointed 
out elsewhere in this work, and that the friends 
of educational progress continued the struggle 
until their object had been attained. The influ- 
ence of this agitation was felt throughout Geor- 
gia and had much to do with the progress of 
the public school system in the State. Indeed, 
the entire Commonwealth is indebted to these far- 
seeing and patriotic Atlantans who stood stead- 
fastly for the extension of educational advantages 
to the whole people. 



350 ATLANTA 

D, C. O'Keefe, an early advocate of the sys- 
tem, did not live to see the public schools estab- 
lished, but his long and arduous labors to that 
end received general recognition and he became 
known as the father of the public school system. 
In 1921, when women were made eligible to mem- 
bership on the Board of Education, his daughter, 
Mrs. Julia O'Keefe Nelson, was elected thereon 
and she holds this place as these words are writ- 
ten, being one of the first women in the South 
to be so honored. The first Board of Education 
consisted of J. P. Logan, E. E. Rawson, Joseph 
E. BrowTi, Logan E. Bleckley, John H. Flynn, 
L. P. Grant, David Mayer, H. T. Phillips, S. H. 
Stout, W. A. Hemphill, M. C. Blanchard and D. 
C. O'Keefe. Upon the organization of the board, 
Joseph E. Brown, former governor, was elected 
president and he served for many years. When 
elected to the United States Senate, he would re- 
turn to the city to present the diplomas to the 
graduating classes, counting this a high honor. 

Significant of the trend of the times is the fact 
that while the men had the preferred places in 
the beginning of the school system, they were 
unable to hold their own mth the women teachers 
and principals, and today there is not a male prin- 
cipal or a male teacher in the grammar schools 
of the City ! Another evolution, one that should 
be especially gratifying to the young folks of 
today, is the change in the attitude toward cor- 
poral punishment. They believed in this system 
in the old days — and practiced it ! In a brief and 
breezy history of the Atlanta school, prepared by 
President W. W. Gaines, of the Board of Educa- 



MILLIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS 351 

tion, in anticipation of the recent senii-centennial 
celebration, one obtains a clear insight into con- 
ditions as they existed ^in the old days. Mr. 
Gaines says: 

"Corporal punishment, and very vigorous cor- 
poral punishment, was the practice in those early 
days, and it continued so for a good many years. 
Every day corporal punishment was inflicted, and 
many times every day. Children often had to 
stand in line awaiting their turn. Prof. W. A. 
Bass was a teacher in the Boys' High School. 
He was one of the best men and one of the best 
teachers Atlanta ever had. He was a great be- 
liever in corporal punishment. He had a farm in 
the country to which he went every Friday after- 
noon. When he came back Monday morning he 
came with a large bundle of switches, good little 
switches. He laid them on a shelf over his door, 
in full sight of his class. By the next Friday 
afternoon his switches were all used up; and 
Monday morning he would bring in a fresh sup- 
ply. Other teachers used corporal punishment, 
too. Prof. Bass was merely typical in that re- 
spect.'' 

The time came, however, when this system was 
looked upon with great disfavor, and it finally 
passed. It is significant, in this connection, that 
when corporal punishment was abolished the 
president of the educational board was Eugene 
M. Mitchell, who, it is said, received a whipping 
the first day he attended school. He helped to 
abolish the system, from which one might infer 
that the mental impression of those early thresh- 



352 A T L A N T A 

ings lingered long after the physical marks had 
disappeared. 

The first superintendent of the Atlanta Schools 
was Bernard Mallen, who was succeeded in 1879 
by Major \V. F. Slaton. Mr. Slaton continued 
at this post until 1907, at which time he was suc- 
ceeded hy his son, AV. M. Slaton. The latter was 
followed by L. M. Tjandnmi, who was succeeded 
by J. C. Wardlaw. Then came W. F. Dykes, who 
was followed by the present superintendent, Dr. 
W. A. Sutton. Thus in a period of more than 
fifty years, there have been only seven occupants 
of this high office. 

Governor Brown was succeeded as president 
of the board in 1887 by W. A. Hemphill. The 
latter was succeeded by Hoke Smith, another 
president of the board Avho became a United 
States Senator. He served as president for a 
number of years and then, after an absence of 
some time, was again elected to this office. Others 
who occupied the post were T). A. Beatie, AVilliam 
S. Thomson, Howard Van Epps, Hamilton Doug- 
las, Luther Z. Rosser, Eugene M. Mitchell, Wal- 
ter R. Daley, George M. Hope, R. J. Guinn, A. P. 
Morgan, Paul L. Fleming, Fred E. Winburn and 
Henry B. Troutman. The last named was suc- 
ceeded by the incumbent, W. W. Gaines. 

The Board of Education as it stands now con- 
sists of W. ^y. Gaines, president: W. L. McCal* 
ley, vice-president; James S. Floyd, Mrs. J. 0. 
Nelson, C. F, Hutcheson, A. C. Meixell, with 
Mayor James L. Key and J. C. Murphy as ex- 
officio members. It is under the leadership of 
these members that the tremendous strides of 



MILLIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS 353 

the present are being taken, and their adminis- 
tration ^\^ll remain for ever notable because of 
the progressive measures inaugurated during 
their terms of office. 

A new and enlarged board, created under re- 
cent charter changes, goes into office in January, 
each ward having a representative. The newly- 
elected board consists of W. Hoke Blair, W. C. 
Slate, W. W. Gaines, Dr. R. M. Eubanks, Rev. 
H. J. Penn, Mrs. J. O'Keefe Nelson, W. L. Mc- 
Calley, Jr., J. T. Hancock, A. C. Meixell, C. L. 
Trussell, Z. V. Peterson and Mrs. Kate Green 
Hess. 

During the fifty years that the public schools 
have been in existence, the number of buildings 
have increased from five to seventy-three — with 
many others in the course of erection. From a 
corps of twenty-seven teachers, the system has 
growTi until a total of more than a thousand are 
now employed. The attendance has increased 
from 2,090 to 41,337. Most significant of all, 
however, is the fact that the compensation of 
grade teachers has grown from $450 a year to 
$1,056, shomng an ever increasing appreciation 
of the fundamentally important work in which 
these well-trained and thoroughly equipped in- 
structors are engaged. The annual budget has 
increased during the fifty years from $21,250 to 
$1,836,000. These facts, so briefly set forth, 
reveal in an eloquent way the manner in which 
the public schools of the city have led in the van- 
g-uard of progress in this wonderfully progressive 
community. 



354 ATLANTA 

Dr. Sutton, the superintendent of Schools, is 
a man of broad vision, with an apt appreciation 
of the responsibility that the schools owe to the 
public. He sees in the schools not only an oppor- 
tunity to develop the capacities of individual 
children, but an opportunity to serve the City by 
creating a sense of loyalty to it and, by impart- 
ing to the students an accurate knowledge of their 
own community, fit them better to serve it. 

The triangular square opposite the Candler 
building H\^as the site lof the first church and 
school house erected in the City of Atlanta. This 
little structure, built of logs and having but one 
room, was erected in 1847 by popular subscrip- 
tion, and here the first Sunday School was organ- 
ized, and here the boys and girls of the period re- 
ceived their first instruction in "readin', writin' 
and 'rithmetic." At the front was a door and 
two windows, while at the rear were two addi- 
tional windows. The structure was about fifteen 
feet wide and twenty-four feet long and stood 
upon twelve pillars, which raised it about two 
feet above the ground. 

Used during the week for educational purposes, 
this quaint structure was the scene of divine ser- 
vices on the Sabbath, the first sermon therein 
being delivered by Rev. J. S. Wilson, who after- 
ward became pastor of the First Presbyterian 
Church. It was known then as the ''Atlanta 
Union Sabbath School," and denominational 
lines were not drawn either in the Sunday School 
or church. 

The year follomng the erection of this build- 
ing, a library wasi organized, the books being 



MILLIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS 355 

placed in this structure. Many of those who had 
subscribed to make the joint church and school 
possible, subscribed to the library fund, thus 
showing an adequate appreciation, even at that 
early date, of the benefits to be derived from good 
books. 

The first instructor in the school was Prof. 
McGinty, who was succeeded by Prof. A. N. Wil- 
son. A number of boys who afterward became 
famous in the City, received their instruction 
under these men in that little log building. Among 
the number were Frank P. Rice, Evan P. Howell, 
Joseph Thompson, B. F. Walker, Quill Orme, 
Edgar Thompson, and Joel Kelsey. Many others 
attended as time went on, and the little school 
had a great influence in shaping the life of the 
community. 

An interesting event, recalling the pioneer 
school days, marked the celebration of the Semi- 
centennial of the founding of the public schools 
of Atlanta, when a class of ten "boys" of the 
graduating class of the first High School in At- 
lanta were awarded their diplomas, this ceremony 
taking place at the auditorium. 

In those early days, pupils who finished their 
course at the High School took their books and 
other belongings, and went on their way rejoic- 
ing. There were no such ceremonies as are wit- 
nessed now, and no diplomas were given. So, in 
order that the surviving members of the first 
graduating class might not be eternally deprived 
of their parchment, they were called forward in 
1922 and rewarded for the zeal shown in the 
course which ended in 1872. The men who re- 



356 ATLANTA 

ceived their diplomas after fifty years were W. 
Wood White, Henry C. Beerman, Elijah Brown, 
James L. Logan, D. Charles Boyd, Henry Well- 
house, George M. Hope, Joseph S. Cook and Her- 
bert H. Brown, all graduates of the class of 1872. 
These pioneer ' ' school boys ' ' maintain an organ- 
ization, getting together periodically to talk over 
''old times." 

Another early structure about which human 
interest centered in the old days was the first 
postoffice. This building, a one-story frame 
store operated by Wash Collier, whose name was 
blazoned across the square front in letters which 
represented the patient labors of some amateur 
sign painter. Beneath his name was the one 
word ''Groceries." The structure had a low roof 
which swept down across a little porch at the 
left, and at the rear of this porch was a little 
cubby-hole, where the village postmaster reigned 
supreme. To the right of the store was a great 
spreading oak, beneath which the casual visitors 
to the then isolated hamlet hitched their horses. 

Fronting on what is now Peachtree Street, this 
building stood at Five Points, where Pitt's cigar 
store now stands. 

The erection of four million dollars worth of 
new school buildings is only a part of the exten- 
sive program of improvement now under way. 

This program involves the expenditure of eight 
million dollars, and upon its completion this City 
will have solved many of its problems and will be 
fully equipped to meet its destiny of increasing 
greatness. 



MILLIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS 357 

Every phase of municipal development is 
touched by this extensive forward movement. It 
touches education, transportation, sanitation, and 
recreation in a most vital manner. 

The sum of $750,000 will go into the erection 
of a magnificient viaduct nineteen hundred feet 
in length and will open an entirely new artery 
between the Eastern and Western divisions of 
the City. At the same time, it will assist mater- 
ially in relieving the congestion now existing upon 
the two great Central thoroughfares — Peachtree 
and AVhitehall. 

This viaduct, which will be above Spring Street, 
wall have its point of beginning at Whitehall 
Street. Leaping off there, it vaults a network of 
railroads, and lands in front of the Terminal Sta- 
tion, where connection is made with the Plaza. 

This nineteen-hundred foot span will be sixty 
feet in width and have a forty-four foot roadway. 
Of steel and concrete construction, it will stand 
for permanency, and architectural details are 
provided which will make it a thing of beauty 
as well. 

Coincident with the erection of this viaduct, 
street improvements of far-reaching importance 
are being carried through. Spring Street, 
which extends in an almost unbroken line from 
Marietta Street to a point on Peachtree Street 
near the Brookwood Station of the Southern 
Railroad, is being widened and paved from end 
to end. When the work is finished and the via- 
duct is brought to completion, persons residing 
in the Eastern section of the city mil have an 



358 ATLANTA 

almost straight shoot to the great Terminal Sta- 
tion. But the advantage does not end here. 

Beyond the terminus of the new viaduct, two 
arteries extend West, and 'thusi the two great 
divisions of the City will be linked up in a manner 
which affords the maximum of convenience to 
both sections. 

The bringing about of this great improvement 
is not only an engineering triumph. It is a tre- 
mendous triumph in the interest of progress. 
The scaling of this net work of tracks and the 
opening up of this splendid new artery of inter- 
communication, will serve to make a vast terri- 
tory inviting to enterprises of every kind, and 
the material results to follow will be enormous. 
It is doubtful if any investment in the history of 
Atlanta, aside from the building of the water 
works, has resulted in so great material advan- 
tage to the people. 

Atlanta had its beginning as a railroad center, 
and the railroads pierce the very heart of the 
City. This condition presented many and vexing- 
problems when the subject of grade separation 
was approached. The magnitude of the under- 
taking may be judged by the fact that there are 
forty-seven bridges, viaducts and underpasses in 
the City today. By the same token, the magnitude 
of the latest undertaking may be realized when 
it becomes known that this new enterprise in- 
volves an expenditure equal to two-thirds of the 
total cost of all other grade separation projects. 
It justly will rank among the great engineering 
feats of the period. 



MILLIONS FOE IMPROVEMENTS 359 

This magnificent new viaduct is being erected 
by an Atlanta firm — the Nichols Construction 
Company — which has carried through many im- 
portant improvements in this City, as well as in 
many other parts of the South. Starting here 
in 1888, this company has been a factor in the 
developing of nmnerous important additions to 
the City. It did the grading and paving at Druid 
Hills, one of the most fashionable sections of 
Atlanta. As throwing light upon the marvelous 
transformation that has been wrought by the 
passing years, it might be observed here that John 
M. Nichols, the president of the company, used 
to hunt 'possums on the hills and through the 
woods that since have come to constitute the fash- 
ionable residence section of Druid Hills. 

This company also erected two of the splendid 
permanent buildings at the Fair Grounds, and 
built the Marietta Street car line and the car line 
to Stone Mountain, and has carried through many 
other important local enterprises, while discharg- 
ing large contracts in other states. Among the 
latter might be mentioned the new Louisville & 
Nashville building at Manuel, Kv., costing $600,- 
000. 

Nothing pleases an Atlantan more than for an 
Atlanta firm to get an important Atlanta con- 
tract, and it is this spirit of helpfulness toward 
home enterprises that is helping to make this 
City more and more the home of great business 
organizations. 

The investments of Atlanta in grade separation 
projects, upon the completion of the Spring 
street viaduct, will be: 



360 ATLANTA 

Spring street viaduct, $750,000 ; Forsyth street, 
$84,126.84; Broad street, $17,094.00; Jones ave- 
nue, $13,865.47; Bell street, $7,249.22; MitcheU 
street, $66,846.82; AMiiteliall street bridge, $29,- 
277.47; Whitehall street viaduct, $70,471,20; 
Peters street, $93,116.70; Magnolia street, $14,- 
747.38; Powell street, $3,290.00; Maddox Drive, 
$2,118.35; Washington street, $121,022.56; Edge- 
wood avenue, $64,382.27; Boulevard underpass, 
$28,281.34; Pryor street pedestrian underpass, 
$10,527.60; Ponce de Leon avenue, $5,383.50; 
Bellewood avenue, $52,816.55; Collier Road, $8,- 
099.15; Grlenn street underpass, $35,751.17; 
Greensberry avenue, $9,364.84; Whitford avenue 
underpass, $4,482.01; Glenn street underpass, 
$30,504.87; Piedmont Park— Boulevard, $28,702.- 
42; South Pryor street underpass, $66,052.84; 
Lee street underpass, $13,509.35; South White- 
ford avenue, $2,814.54; North avenue, $1,470.00; 
Hill street, $2,160.00; Hardee street, $280,000; 
Peeples street, $287.42; Euclid avenue, $526.00; 
West Mitchell street underpass, $2,028.60 ; Flet- 
cher street, $315.00; all of which were built by 
the city, and the following which were built by 
the railroads: Highland avenue, $11,000; Lake- 
wood avenue, $13,000; South Boulevard under- 
pass, $54,148.50; Nelson street, $42,525.00; Mari- 
etta street, $16,184.00; Estoria— Krog street 
underpass, $49,000.00; La\\i;on street, reconstruc- 
tion, $2,260.00; Piedmont avenue, reconstruction, 
$990.00; McDonough Road, reconstruction, $1,- 
433.34; Brookwood Station, $15,400; Brookwood 
Station underpass, $5,485.43; McDaniel street, 
$1,960.00; Humphries street, $1,764.00. 



MILLIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS 361 

Here is a grand total of $1,856,543.15 expended 
in the interest of public convenience and public 
safety, with the result that Atlanta enjoys ex- 
ceptional immunity from those dreadful calami- 
ties known as grade-crossing accidents. 

The work of grade separation began on a com- 
prehensive scale in 1891 with the erection of the 
Forsyth street viaduct, the opening of which was 
the occasion of a rather elaborate ceremony. And 
justly so, for it marked the beginning of an era 
of construction that added hundreds of thousands 
of dollars to the taxable values of the city. 

The Highland avenue bridge came next in 1892 ; 
then the Broad street bridge and the Peachtree 
Road bridge at Brookwood, in 1895. In 1896 the 
Jones avenue bridge was built, and Bell street 
bridge was erected in 1897. The Mitchell street 
viaduct was built in 1896, as was the Hill street 
bridge. In 1899 the Whitehall street bridge over 
the Southern railroad was erected, and in 1901 
the Whitehall street viaduct was completed. 
Then came the Peters street viaduct in 1892, the 
Magnolia street bridge in 1904, the Lee street 
underpass and the Powell street underpass in 
1905. In 1906 the Washington street viaduct, the 
Boulevard underpass, the Greenberry avenue 
bridge, the Lakewood avenue bridge and the 
South Boulevard underpass were provided. In 
1907 the Pryor street pedestrian underpass and 
the Marietta street brids-e of the Western and 
Atlantic were completed. The Ponce de Leon ave- 
nue bridge was erected in 1909 : the North avenue 
bridge in 1910; the Estoria-Krog street under- 
pass, the Bellewood avenue bridge and the Col- 



362 ATLANTA 

lier Road bridge all went up in 1911. In 1912, 
the first Glenn street underpass was provided, 
and in 1915 the one under the Central of Georgia 
railroad was privided. The South Pryor street 
underpass was provided in 1916, as was the Pied- 
mont Park-Boulevard bridge. The Brookwood- 
Peaehtree Road bridge and the Brookwood under- 
pass were provided in 1917, and the South 
\Miitford avenue bridge was built in 1918. Now 
conies the greatest of all the numerous enter- 
prises, the Spring Street Viaduct. 

Sewer construction, which forms a large and 
important element in the extensive program of 
improvements now under way, embraces seven 
major projects, aggregating a total of nine miles. 
The completion of this work will mean another 
engineering triumpth, for topographical condi- 
tions in and about Atlanta make drainage an ex- 
ceedingly difficult problem. 

Built upon rolling ground, with a great number 
of hills, ridges and valleys, the City presents a 
problem that is very unusual when the matter 
of drainage is considered. One or two sewerage 
outfalls are enough for most communities, but 
not so with Atlanta. Here six are required; a 
condition that calls for extraordinary resource- 
fulness. The problem has been before the engi- 
neers of the City for years, and the difficulties 
finally were overcome — on paper. Not until the 
present was the means provided for doing what 
the engineers said should be done. Now the 
problem has been reduced to a mere matter of 
construction, and in a little while Atlanta's sys- 



MILLIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS 363 

tern of sanitary and storm water sewers wiU be 
second to none. 

This drainage problem, by the way, became 
more complex as the engineers labored over it. 
In 1910, about which time the matter began to 
receive the most thorough consideration, the pop- 
ulation of Atlanta w^as only 154,000, while the 
area of the City was only 17.2 square miles. Dur- 
ing the twelve years which since have elapsed, 
the population has groA\Ti to approximately 240,- 
000, while the area has increased to 30.68 square 
miles. 

That this rapid increase in population would 
continue, and that there will also be periodic in- 
creases in the area of the City, was well recog- 
nized by the engineers, and their work is broad 
and comprehensive; designed not merely to meet 
the needs of the present, but in anticipation of 
the needs certain to arise in the future. 

The program under the recent bond issue in- 
cludes the Highland avenue trunk sewer, about 2,- 
400 feet ; the Lloyd street twin-trunk sewer, about 
2,435 feet ; the Orme street trunk sewer, about 4,- 
000 feet; the Greensferry avenue trunk sewer, 
about 3,400 feet ; the McDaniel street-South Pryor 
street-Stewart avenue trunk sewer, about 3,450 
feet, and lateral trunk sewers connecting with 
these main trunks, about 10,000 feet; sanitary 
trunk sewers, also leading into main trunks as 
described, about 20,000 feet. 

With the completion of this vitally important 
work, Atlanta, with an exceptional record for 
healthful conditions and an unusually low death 
rate, undoubtedly mil rank among the foremost 



364 ATLANTA 

cities of the country in point of freedom from 
disease. 

The improvements enumerated above, and 
those which are being made in the parks and 
playgrounds, taken in connection with the vast 
scheme of school erection, show an appreciation 
of fundamentals that argues well for the future 
of the City. People whose destiny is cast in urban 
commumities have come to expect — and have a 
right to expect — certain fundamental provisions 
for their well-being, which cannot well be sup- 
plied save by the municipality. They want ad- 
equate and efficient educational facilities, proper 
safeguards for the protection of their health, 
reasonable provision for recreation, and the as- 
surance that life and property are secure. Other 
things being anything like equal — ^^vhich means 
equality in the opportunity to earn a living, or 
to succeed in business — they will select as their 
home that cit}^ w^hich makes the most intelligent 
provision along the lines indicated. Alive to this 
fact, Atlanta is adding to superior advantages of 
a material nature, superior advantages from the 
standpoint of health, education, recreation and 
the like. Already foremost among Southern 
cities in these matters, she is preparing to take 
her place among the most advanced communities 
in America. 

Atlanta is a pioneer in providing municipal 
golf links, and, as pointed out elsewhere, there 
is no form of recreation in this City that is more 
thoroughly enjoyed by the masses of the people, 
unless it is swimming. And here, too, really re- 
markable provision has been made. At Grant 



MILLIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS 365 

Park a new swimming pool of Roman magnifi- 
cence has been provided recently. It embraces 
65,190 square feet and is perfect in all of its ap- 
pointments. There is also a secondary basin for 
children which contains 30,260 square feet. 

At Maddox Park there is a swinuning; pool 
embracing 47,392 square feet, and a basin for 
children containing 8,312 square feet. At Oak- 
land City Park there is a swimming pool embrac- 
ing 19,208 square feet, and a pool for children 
with an area of 11,256 square feet. Mozley Park 
contains one pool, with an area of 9,016 square 
feet. 

In addition to the above, which provide con- 
venient places of recreation in many communi- 
ties, there are two great swimming pools where 
thousands may enjoy this sport ; one at Piedmont 
Park, A\dth an area of about 4 acres, and one at 
Lakewood with an area of about 3 acres. 

Mayor Key, while supporting energetically the 
movement for improved educational and recre- 
ational advantages for the white population, as 
shown by the splendid new white schools under 
way, and by the many new swimming pools, 
has urged similar advantages for the colored 
population. As a result, the negroes have been 
furnished with a splendid recreational center in 
Washington Park, where a magnificent new 
swimming pool has been opened, and the school 
program includes a great high school plant for 
colored children that will be an ornament to the 
City. Not only so, but they have been provided 
with a splendid public library, a branch of the 
Carnegie Library, adequate hospital facilities, 



366 A T L A X T A 

and numerous other things which serve to give 
the colored popuhition of the City up-to-date ad- 
vantages. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

AVoiiEx AcHiE^-E Much 

ONE of the most virile institutions in At- 
lanta, and one which typifies in eloquent 
fashion the fine co-operative spirit of the 
women of the City, is the Atlanta Wo- 
man's Club. 

Here is an institution that is unique among 
organizations of its kind; unique in the wide 
range of its activities, and in the splendid nature 
of its accomplishments. 

During the present year, this club completed 
and opened a magnificent auditorium, represent- 
ing an investment of nearly one hundred thousand 
dollars, which, coupled M*ith it^ beautiful club 
building, gives it a home that for completeness 
and excellence of appointments, surpasses any- 
thing of the kind in the United States. 

That an undertaking so monumental could have 
been carried through in so brief a period, is one 
of the surprise achievements in this Cit\" of extra- 
ordinary accomplishment. Certainly it bears 
abundant testimony to the zeal and capacity of 
the spendid women who compose the membership 
of the club and to the high executive skill of its 
officers. 

The Woman's Club was organized in 189o and 
chartered in 1898, and from the outset became a 
tremendous factor in the life of Atlanta. Its 
influence and membership grew rapidly, and to- 
dav the names on its roUs exceed twelve hundred. 



368 ATLANTA 

representing the most active, energetic and patri- 
otic women of Atlanta. 

Located on beautiful Peachtree Street, housed 
in a fine and impressive mansion, andj having 
every facility for carrying on the multiplicity of 
activities in which they are engaged, the Woman's 
Club is ideally situated and properly ranks as 
one of the great constructive forces of the com- 
munity. 

One of the activities of the organization that 
has a very practical bearing upon the homes of 
the people of Atlanta relates to the establishment 
and maintenance of the Municipal Curb Market; 
a highly practical and useful institution founded 
as the result of the activities of the Women's 
Club and operated under the Market Committee 
of the Club, in co-operation with the city author- 
ities. This market has served a three-fold pur- 
pose. It has simplified the problems of the At- 
lanta housewife; has had a marked tendency to 
reduce the cost of many necessities and to make 
them available when in the best possible condi- 
tion, and has served greatly to encourage the 
truck-growing industry in this vicinity. The 
magnitude of the proposition may be gauged 
from the fact that over $300,000 worth of prod- 
ucts have been disposed of at the market during 
the past few months. 

A feature of this work consists of an educa- 
tional campaign that has served to bring about 
a marked increase in the quantity and variety 
of crops. Lectures by agricultural experts, famil- 
iar with the soil possibilities in this section, have 
been given, and these have been followed by the 



f^Ur 





UPI'ER— MOREHOUSE COLLEGE 
LOWER— CLARK UNIVERSITY 



WOMEN ACHIEVE MUCH 369 

introduction of numerous articles which, until the 
beginning of this campaign, were shipped in from 
other parts of the country. 

The work of the club in this connection has 
attracted widespread attention and its example 
is being emulated in numerous other communities. 

Philanthropic work is carried on upon a large 
scale, and as a result of its activities along these 
lines, the club has won the title of "Loving Mother 
of the Community." Here every worthy cause 
finds practical assistance and encouragement. 
The plea of the suffering in foreign lands has 
been heard and answered on many occasions, and 
the work in the home field has been broad and 
comprehensive. The Department of Child Wel- 
fare has done a magnificent work in ministering 
to the children of Atlanta ; the Hospital and Pris- 
on Committee has carried comfort and cheer to 
multitudes, the cause of education has been pro- 
moted by practical and whole-hearted effort. A 
Co-operative Exchange is maintained, through 
which many persons who are unable to leave their 
homes are enabled to reap the rewards of indus- 
try; civic conditions receive attention and much 
constructive work is done along these lines, the 
purpose being to make Atlanta the most beauti- 
ful and attractive city in the country; a Depart- 
ment of Household Economics is maintained, 
where classes in dressmaking, cooking, interior 
decorating, etc.. are given instruction; classes in 
art, music and drama are conducted, ha^ang a 
marked influence upon the cultural life of the 
community; master musicians are brought to the 
City through the activities of the Music Commit- 



370 ATLANTA 

tee, and art exhibits are held which prove a 
decided factor in kindling appreciation of the 
best. 

The Woman's Club, with its large and highly 
representative membership, and its delightful ap- 
pointments, naturally has become the social cen- 
ter of Atlanta. The serving of dinners, lunch- 
eons and afternoon teas is a regular feature, and 
delightful entertainments are daily features. 

A truly remarkable institution, and one which 
has been a mighty force in the progress of At- 
lanta, this club is justly among the most appre- 
ciated and admired organizations in Atlanta, and 
no guest, however distinguished, feels that a 
visit has been complete without at least a brief 
sojourn within its beautifully appointed and hos- 
pitable portals. Mrs. Warren Gr. Harding, wife 
of the President of the United States, and many 
other distinguished visitors have been entertained 
here. 

The original club house, built several years 
ago, is of grey stone and is designed in the Nor- 
man style. In 1921 the Club decided that the 
time was ripe to begin to carry out their long 
cherished hope of securing an adequate plant to 
allow them to have full scope in all their activ- 
ities. 

An ambitious plan was undertaken, providing 
for a final development that assures the Club of 
the most complete and sumptuous kind when the 
entire project is completed. The scheme embodies 
three units, each complete in itself, which will 
form a unified whole when the ultimate is reached. 



WOMEN ACHIEVE MUCH 371 

The first step was taken in 1921 when the audi- 
torium was built. This is of fireproof construc- 
tion and seats approximately 700. It has a slop- 
ing ground floor with a balcony above, and four 
boxes. The stage is 24 feet by 58 feet, has a fly 
gallery and grid iron and is completely equipped. 
This auditorium is so arranged that daylight 
performances may be held, or the auditorium may 
be darkened, and the lighting supplied by the 
most modern electrical equipment. The interior 
design of the auditorium shows a wall base of 
caen stone finish to the heighth of the balcony 
rail. This base is pierced on both sides of the 
auditorium by a series of casement windows, 
affording ample daylight which may be excluded 
by the tapestry hangings. The side walls above 
the base are divided into panels capped by low 
relief ornaments. The Proscenium arks are the 
depth of the stage boxes and is enriched with 
Plastic Ornaments. The <?eiling is formed of 
four intersecting vaultings supporting a shallow 
dome of opaque glass which is lighted from a 
skylight above and which may be darkened by 
a (?urtain mechanically operated. In rear of the 
balcony is located a fire proof moving picture 
machine booth. Ample locker rooms, dressing 
rooms, shoM^ers. etc., are provided under the 
stage. 

The next step, for which arrangements are now 
being consummated, is to build a Banquet Hall, 
which will connect mth the Auditorium Foyer. 
This will be provided with a hard wood dancing 
floor, a shallow barrelled vaulted ceiling in 
panel s of low relief. The decorations will be 



372 ATLANTA 

in French grey and rose. The Banquet Hall will 
also connect with the original Club House. 

For the auditorium and the Banquet Hall the 
architects. Messrs Marye and Alger, selected the 
later French style of Louis XV following in de- 
tail and decoration somewhat the motif of the 
Petit Trianou. This harmonizes w^th the earlier 
style of the original club house, and allows an 
opportunity for details and decorations more 
appropriate to the uses for which the new build- 
ings are intended. 

The final step wall be a swimming pool, which 
will be built in the future, on the South side of 
the auditorium. 

The president of this great civic and social 
organization is Mrs. B. M. Boj^kin. 

The movement to convert Stone Mountain into 
one of the world's greatest memorials w^as started 
by an Atlanta w^oman's organization, Atlanta 
Chapter No. 18, Georgia Division, United Daugh- 
ters of the Confederacy. This is one of the most 
active of all organizations of this character, and 
it has accomplished a w^ork of great importance, 
not only in perpetuating the memory of the heroic 
achievements of the Confederate soldier, but in 
accumulating invaluable relics of the period in 
w^hich he made history. It owns a chapter house 
that is a credit to the City, and which furnishes 
a splendid background for its numerous activ- 
ities. Organized in 1895,. it has been a virile 
agency from the first and its influence has been 
and is being felt far beyond the borders of At- 
lanta. 



WOMEN ACHIEVE MUCH 373 

The daring idea of having a vast panorama 
carved upon the sheer side of Stone Mountain 
as a memorial to the valor of the Confederate 
soldier, once originated, seized the popular imag- 
ination, and later the work was taken up by the 
Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial Associa- 
tion, organized for the specific purpose, and it 
is under this auspices that the marvelous enter- 
prise is going forward. This association, as a 
matter of course, has the enthusiastic co-opera- 
tion of Atlanta Chapter No. 18 in carrying on the 
great work. The officers of this chapter are: 
Mrs. C. Helen Plane. Honorary President; Mrs. 
W. S. Coleman, President; Mrs. J. A. Perdue, 
First Vice-President ; Miss Sallie Melone, Second 
Vice-President; Mrs. A. O. Woodward, Third 
Vice-President ; Mrs. W. C. King, Recording Sec- 
retary; Mrs. Earl Scott. Corresponding Secre- 
tary ; Mrs. Richard Moore, Treasurer ; Mrs. John 
C. Henderson, Registrar ; Mrs. J. G. Heard, Audi- 
tor; Miss Cora Brown, Historian. 

The following poem, ''The Tribute of the 
South," by Virginia Eraser Boyer, appears in the 
Year Book of Atlanta Chapter No. 18, and it 
breathes, not only the spirit of the South, but the 
spirit of this body of splendid women : 

Out of the mists and the storms of years, 
Out of the glory of triumph and tears, 
Out of the ashes of hopes and of fears, 
The Old South still leads on. 

She is hrinqing today ivhat her hands have 
wrought, 



374 ATLANTA 

What her mother's heart at her knee has taught, 
Her treasure of time that her blood has bought, 
To lay at the nation's feet. 

She has kept unmixed through her years of pain 
America's blood in its purest strain; 
As she gave to the past, she gives again 
For the glory of her land. 

With a patriot's faith in the days to be, 
She is pressing the seal of destiny; 
With the fame of her Jackson and her Lee — 
The heritage of her sons. 

Sir Robert Baden-Powell might have had the 
Girl Scouts of Atlanta in mind when he wrof.e 
in his Foreword to the Girl Scout Handbook: 
*'The members of our sisterhood besides being 
handy and ready for any kind of duty are also a 
jolly happy family, and likely to be good, cheery 
companions to their mankind." 

Under the leadership of Lady Baden-Powell, 
the girl scout movement, started in England, has 
spread to 29 leading countries of the world." 
''This sisterhood," Sir Eobert, "the father of all 
scouting," says, ''is a League of Nations with liv- 
ing force, in close touch and sympathy with each 
other. ' ' 

The Girl Scout motto is: "Be Prepared." The 
slogan is: "Do a Good turn daily." The activ- 
ities include home nursing, first aide, public 
health, sewing, cooking, camping, citizenship, 
swimming, and other special lines of interest. The 
girls are awarded badges for service to their 



WOMEN ACHIEVE MUCH 375 

homes and the community and for achievements 
along practical and cultural lines. 

In Atlanta during their first year, Girl Scouts 
gave a total of 17,600 hours of service to their 
mothers, and a total of 4,000 hours community 
service. Fifteen troops went on over-night camps, 
and 80 girls spent a week or more in Camp Jul- 
ietta Low on Lookout Mountain, or Camp High- 
land, near Atlanta. 

Atlanta Girl Scouts come from every section of 
the City, every condition of life, and every relig- 
ious denomination. The movement is democratic. 
Girls in Scout uniform must not wear jewelry nor 
silk stockings. '*A girl Scout is a friend to all 
and a sister to every other girl Scout. ' ' 

The Atlanta Girl Scout Council was chartered 
August 5, 1921, having been founded by Mrs. Al- 
bert Thornton, Sr.. with Mrs. Frank D. Holland 
president and Miss Corinne Chisholm director. 
On the first executive board were Mrs. Frank In- 
man, Mrs. James L. Dickey, Mrs. Victor Kriegs- 
haber, Mrs. Ulric Atkinson, Mrs. Edwin Peeples,^ 
Mrs. Wilmer Moore, Mrs. Reuben Clarke, Mrs. 
Mell Wilkinson, Mrs. H. G Hastings, Mrs. Lee 
Ashcraft, Mrs. Julian Boehm. Mrs. Fred Paxon, 
Mrs. Benjamin Elsas, Mrs. William Kiser. Mrs. 
Joseph Lamar, Mrs. J. K. Ottley, Mrs. Sam In- 
man, Mrs. Robert Maddox, Mrs. Rucker McCarty. 
Mrs. A. S. Adams, Mrs. Robert Alston, Mrs. Don 
Pardee, Mrs. John Slaton, Mrs. George Varden, 
Mrs. Ernest Kontz, Mrs. Richard Johnson, Mrs. 
Arthur Harris, Mrs. Henry Davis. Mrs. M. Rich. 
Miss Laura Smith, Mrs. Howard Bucknell, Mrs. 
William Percy, Mrs. Sig Pappenheimer, Mrs. Rob- 



376 ATLANTA 

ert Pegram, Mrs. Ewell Gay, Mrs. W. D. Manley, 
Mrs. Morris Brandon, Mrs. Robert Daniell, Mrs. 
W. B. Price Smith, Mrs. T. T. Stevens, Mrs. How- 
ard McCall, Mrs. Stephen Barnett, Mrs. Chesley 
Howard, Mrs. HoUins Randolph, Mrs. William 
Prescott, Mrs. S. Y. Tupper, Jr. 

At the end of the first year, the movement had 
grown to a strength of 500 girls and 60 leaders. 
Services of all leaders were volunteered. 

Girl Scouts formed a guard of honor for Presi- 
dent and Mrs. Harding on their visit to Atlanta 
in November, 1921, and Mrs. Harding, who is her- 
self a Girl Scout, presented the Atlanta Girls with 
their first official colors. Other distinguished vis- 
itors to Atlanta and to camps where Atlanta Girl 
Scouts spent a part of the summer, were Mrs. 
Herbert Hoover, president of Girl Scouts, Inc., 
and Mrs. Juliette Low, founder of American Girl 
Scouts. 

Atlanta Girl Scouts were present at the plant- 
ing of the first trees on the Bankhead Highway. 

How came it that Atlanta has two Peachtree 
Streets ? The answer to this question throws light 
upon topographical conditions in the city, as well 
as upon the condition of its main thoroughfares in 
the early days. Peachtree Road, as it was known 
in the early days (now West Peachtree,) followed 
a direct course, dipping into a deep '' bottom" be- 
yond the present junction with Peachtree. It was 
the short and favorite route taken by farmers and 
others in bringing their products to town and car- 
rying their supplies back home. However, when 
the rains descended, this bottom became a morass 
through which even the stoutest teams could not 



WOMEN ACHIEVE MUCH 377 

draw a load. So, it became the habit of the peo- 
ple who used this thoroughfare during the wet 
weather, to take to the high ground. Thus a sec- 
ond Peachtree was created, following the ridge 
until the low ground on the original Peachtree was 
passed, and then forming a junction therewith. 

While the name ' ' Peachtree Street ' ' is assumed 
to have originated from a famous Georgia fruit 
tree, there is a legend which points in an alto- 
gether different direction. According to this story, 
which was heard by a few old settlers before At- 
lanta was more than a cross-roads village, it was 
the custom of the Indians, in passing this way, to 
stop at what is now known as Peachtree Creek in 
order to rest and enjoy a little recreation before 
resuming their journey. On the banks of this 
creek w^as one particularly large tree under whose 
spreading limbs the Indians would rest, and about 
which they would play. One of their games was 
the pitching of tomahawks, and this great tree 
was the favorite target. Out of this custom grew 
the name '^Pitchtree," which was applied by the 
Eed Men to this monarch of the forest. It fol- 
lowed then, that the stream also became known 
as ''Pitchtree Creek," a name that was easily 
converted into ''Peachtree" by the "Pale Face" 
population, and by this name it has since 1)een 
known. Peachtree Street, of course, came into 
possession of its name because it crossed Peach- 
tree Creek. 

This interesting legend of the ''Pitchtree" and 
how it came to be so named, was told to a mem- 
ber of an old Atlanta family more than a half cen- 
tury ago by one of the Indians who participated 



378 ATLANTA 

in the games about the ancient tree and who claim- 
ed to know the facts about it. 

While Hardy Ivy, who built his cabin home 
here in 1833, was the first man to invade the wil- 
derness that was to become the site of Atlanta, he 
was not the only settler in this vicinity, as several 
farmers had their abodes within a radius of a few 
miles. Speaking of this period, the little history 
issued twenty years ago by the Pioneer Citizens' 
Society of Atlanta, says : 

"The first settlement on the road to Nelson's 
Ferry was that of Mr. Thurman, who owned a 
farm and also ran a mill on a small stream that 
coursed through his place. Among the families 
of that day living within a radius of about two to 
ten miles were Benjamine Little, Charner Humph- 
ries, James Montgomery, Abner Conley, Isaiah 

Hornady, Hughie, Blackstock 

and Moses Trimble." 

The Charner Humphries referred to in the 
above paragraph was the man who built the 
"White Hall Inn," from which Whitehall Street 
derived its name. This inn was erected in 1837. 
Isaiah Hornady, also mentioned above, was the 
father of Rev. Henry Carr Hornady, who was 
pastor of the First Baptist Church in Atlanta dur- 
ing the civil war, and who had two sons, John R. 
Hornady and G. A. Hornady, in the Confederate 
army, both of whom served throughout the strug- 
gle and participated in the defense of Atlanta. 

It is said, with reason, that funny things hap- 
pen in politics and in newspaper offices, and this 
is illustrated in the story of one of the most re- 
markable newspaper "beats" ever recorded. It 



WOMEN ACHIEVE MUCH 379 

happened in Atlanta during the second election of 
President Woodrow Wilson, in November 1916. 

In order that the layman may understand how 
.snch a serio-comic occurrence could transpire it 
is, perhaps necessary to make this explanation : 

News is often sent out by press associations 
over their leased wires from a few minutes to sev- 
eral hours in advance of the actual happening, to 
be released later by a ''flash" bulletin. Also, im- 
portant news bulletins are ''flashed" on the wires 
in a few meagre words to advise the newspaper 
editors of what is coming. 

It will be recalled that the result of the 1916 
presidential election was in doubt for three or 
four days and finally was seen to hinge on the 
vote in California. Every newspaper was keyed 
up to the highest tension lest a competitor come 
out first with the California vote. 

On the afternoon of the second day after the 
election, press associations were sending out ad- 
vance leads to fit either a Wilson or a Hughes vic- 
tory, the appropriate story to be released and 
published when the vote finally was counted. 

A telegraph operator in one of the Atlanta 
newspaper offices, which also was Southeastern 
distributing point for that particular press serv- 
ice, received signals over the wire which he in- 
terpreted as follows : 

"Hold for release. 

"Flash: Wilson carries California." 

This was followed by a staff correspondent 
story telling how Mr, Wilson had been swept 
into the presidency by California's vote. The 
newspaper into whose office this message came, 



380 ATLANTA 

issued an extra immediately and thousands of 
copies were sold on the streets within a few min- 
utes. The distributing office of the press associa- 
tion also flashed the news to all its clients over 
the Southeast, with the result that all those 
papers, too, got out extras telling of Wilson's de- 
feat of Hughes. 

The Southeastern manager of the press asso- 
ciation in question, waited some time for a con- 
firmatory bulletin ggiving the size of Wilson's 
majority in California, and as it did not come he 
made inquiries of the office which had relayed the 
message to Atlanta. 

''What do you mean Wilson carried Cali- 
fornia?" came the answer. "We sent no such 
flash." 

Needless to say this caused consternation in 
the Atlanta office. A hasty investigation revealed 
the fact that the message received here should 
have read: 

"Hold for release on flash that Wilson carries 
California." 

At that hour Wilson had a lead of only about 
3,000 votes, with the strong Kepublican counties 
in Southern California yet to be heard from. To 
make matters worse, news was just then flashed 
over the wire that the Kepublican county of Los 
Angeles had discovered that "an adding ma- 
chine" had made a mistake of two thousand 
votes and this cut Wilson's lead to a scant thous- 
and! It mean, virtually, that Hughes instead of 
Wilson was elected. 

A consultation was held in the Atlanta office 
at which gloom was thicker than the pro- 



WOMEN ACHIEVE MUCH 381 

verbial gumbo. The operator who made the mis- 
take was in tears. The news manager, who 
seemed to possess the sixth sense sometimes 
ascribed to newspaper men, declared he would 
not attempt to correct the bulletin to the South- 
eastern clients ; that in spite of the seeming elect- 
ion of Hughes he still had faith that "Wilson 
would win out. The local paper also decided to 
stand its ground. And fortune then began to 
smile. 

The democratic election manager in San Fran- 
cisco, not to be outdone by their republican 
friends in Los Angeles, discovered that their add- 
ing machine, too, had made a mistake of 2,000 
votes, which again placed Wilson 3,000 votes in 
the lead ! Confirmation of his election came some 
36 hours later. 

This story is a *'beat" in itself, as it is the 
first time the inside facts have been told of how 
an Atlanta paper and a score or more of others 
throughout the Southeast "scooped the world" 
on the election of America's great war president. 

The interest of the people of Atlanta in the 
political fortunes of President Wilson was inten- 
sified by the fact that he formerly was a citizen 
of this City, being engaged here in the practice 
of law while unknown to fame and while giving 
few outward indications of the great qualities 
for which he afterward became distinguished. 
Certainly none who came in contact yith' the 
quiet, studious and reserved Wilson of that period 
were able to foresee the brilliant political future 
that awaited him. 



382 ATLANTA 

Admitted to the Atlanta bar before Judge 
George Hillyer in 1882, he displayed a modest 
tin sign in front of the Law Building and waited 
for clients who might be in need of legal services, 
but these proved to be few and far between. It 
is known that he had a hard struggle here and 
that here the financial shoe pinched with some 
severity. So, finally, he took down the modest 
*' shingle," bearing a name that was to become 
immortal, and moved — amoved to a height that it 
is given to few men to attain! From professor 
to College President; from College President to 
Governor; from Governor to President of the 
United States, achieving meanwhile a reputation 
for intellectual attainments that placed him 
among the giants of all ages. 

Atlantans wish now that Woodrow Wilson had 
been less reserved in those old days; that they 
might have known him better; that they might 
have appreciated him more. But the day passed, 
as days will, and the opportunity fled, as oppor- 
tunities will, and this great, outstanding figure 
in world history became known to few as Wilson, 
the Atlantan. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
A Few Personalities 

THE Atlanta youth who is seeking inspira- 
tion by examining the records of those 
who have achieved large things, does not 
have to go far afield, for upon the scroll 
of Atlanta's yesterdays many chapters appear 
that unfold stories of accomplishments such as 
quicken the pulse and fire the heart with high 
purposes. 

To relate one-tenth of what is revealed by a 
study of things past — in the establishment of 
great business enterprises, in the promotion of 
religious and philanthropic movements, in writ- 
ing glorious history upon the battle field, and in 
the realm of professional endeavor — would re- 
quire many volumes, and only the briefest survey 
can be made here. However, the few examples 
that are given are typical of many and should 
be enough to kindle the faith of the striving. 

Among the pioneer citizens no names are more 
familiar, or represent more in the upbuilding 
of the community, than those of Captain James 
W. English, Hon. Frank P. Rice, Judge William 
T. Newman, Samuel Inman, Judge George Hill- 
yer, Joel Hurt, Robert James Lowry and Colonel 
Robert F. Maddox, all of whom, together with 
many others, played a conspicuous part in shap- 
ing the life of the City during the formative 
period. Of these notable contributors to the 



384 ATLANTA 

greatness of Atlanta, Capt. English, Frank P. 
Rice, Judge Hillyer and Joel Hurt survive. 

Few among the pioneers left more numerous 
reminders of their virile personality than Samuel 
Inman, who located in Atlanta in the spring of 
1867 and who, for many years, was a dominant 
factor in the life of the community. Immediately 
after his arrival here, he organized the firm of 
S. M. Inman & Son, an enterprise which developed 
into one of the largest and most influential of its 
kind in the South. 

Mr. Inman was born in Dandridge, Tenn., Feb- 
ruary 19, 1843, a son of S. W. and Jane Martin 
Inman. After attending the local schools, Mr. 
Inman was sent to Princeton, where his education 
was completed. Upon the outbreak of the war, 
he joined the First Tennessee Cavalry, and be- 
came lieutenant of the company. Near the close 
of the conflict he was detailed to special duty on 
the division staff, serving until the close of the 
struggle. Brave, loyal and unselfish, he was a 
great favorite among his fellows in the army, and 
his honorable discharge remained one of his 
prized possessions until the day of his death. 

As a citizen, Mr. Inman endeared himself to 
all who knew him by reason of his generosity 
in behalf of every worthy cause, and the enthu- 
siasm with which he supported all movements 
which made for the progress of the community. 

Mr. Inman enjoyed for years the tribute of 
being termed Atlanta's "First Citizen." That 
this was no empty title was shown by the honor 
paid his memory when his life of service was 
ended. His exalted character, his sympathetic 



A FEW PERSONALITIES 385 

consideration for others, his unselfish service to 
his city and his fellows, drew to him the love and 
admiration of the entire community, and no man 
was more sincerely mourned. His interest in 
education was intense, and no man had more to 
do with the promotion of Agnes Scott College 
into the great institution that it is today. This 
well earned tribute was paid him when the whole 
city was mourning his death: 

"A citizen without an enemy, a friend without 
a flaw, a thinker without conceit, a leader with- 
out arrogance, a philanthropist without pride, a 
husband and father without fault." 

Another greatly beloved citizen among the pio- 
neers, was Judge William T. Newman, who, at 
the time of his death, was the oldest district 
judge in the United States, and certainly one of 
the most honored. 

Judge Newman, a member of a distinguished 
Tennessee family, and a brave soldier of the 
Confederacy, located in Atlanta immediately 
after the close of the war. He was city attorney 
of Atlanta from 1871 to 1883, and in 1886 was 
appointed judge of the Northern District of Geor- 
gia by President Cleveland. This office he filled 
with rare distinction until his death, thirty-four 
years later. 

The interests of Judge Newman were as wide 
as the needs of humanity, and he literally loved 
his way into the hearts of all Atlantans. Every 
worthy cause enlisted his heartfelt support, and 
his impression upon the community in which he 
lived and served was deep and lasting. 



386 ATLANTA 

Judge Newman was married in 1871 to Miss 
Fanny Percy Alexander, of Nashville, Tenn., who 
survives him, together with two daughters and a 
son. 

One of the men chiefly instrumental in laying 
the foundations of Atlanta's splendid financial 
and business structure was Col. Kobert James 
Lowry, founder of the Lowry National Bank. 

Colonel Lowry came to Atlanta from Green- 
ville, Tenn., just about the time the rumblings of 
the approaching conflict between the States was 
echoing inJ the distance; his purpose being to 
purchase equipment for a fife and drum corps 
which he contemplated organizing. At the time 
he had no idea of remaining here, but shortly 
after his arrival he met Miss Emma Markham, 
one of the most attractive of Atlanta's belles, 
and thereafter nothing could take him away. He 
was married to Miss Markham in November, 
1862, and the union thus formed proved a pecu- 
liarly happy one. The Golden Anniversary of 
this marriage, which was celebrated ten years 
ago, was one of the most notable social events 
in the history of the City, all Atlanta doing honor 
to the man and woman whose union had meant 
so much to the community. 

Shortly after his arrival in this City, the war 
came on, and then Colonel Lowry found an oppor- 
tunity for serving the Confederacy that was 
peculiarly fitted to his talents for organization 
and administration. This was the field of trans- 
portation. Atlanta had become not only a rail- 
road center of great importance but quickly de- 
veloped into a vast munition center. The trans- 



A FEW PERSONALITIES 387 

portation of soldiers and the implements of war 
became a problem of first importance, and in this 
field Colonel Lowry rendered conspicuous ser\4ce. 
Following the conflict, he entered the wholesale 
grocery and banking business — a combination 
that was not unusual in those days. At this time 
he was joined by his father, William M Lowry. 
Later the grocery end of the business was abol- 
ished, and the firm turned aU of its energies to 
the upbuilding of the institution which finally 
developed into the great Lowry National Bank 
of Atlanta. 

Col. Lowry was a man of large vision, of strik- 
ing physique, and was gifted with boundless 
energy. His ambition was to build a financial 
institution that would have the strength and the 
resources to play a dominant part in the develop- 
men of the growing City of Atlanta, and he lived 
to see this ambition gratified to the full. He died 
on January 8, 1919. 

Captain English also cro^vned a long life of 
usefulness by becoming the foremost figure in 
establishing and fostering a financial institution 
that ranks among the greatest in Atlanta — the 
Fourth National Bank. Though at an exception- 
ally ripe age, he still serves this institution as 
chairman of the board and is on duty every bus- 
iness day. One of the early mayors of the City, 
he has always taken great interest in civic mat- 
ters, and was an important factor in putting the 
City upon a firm financial basis. 

Judge Hillyer also served his city as mayor, 
and he, too, deserves much credit for the trans- 
formation wrought in its financial standing. Such 



388 ATLANTA 

men rendered service of incalculable value in lay- 
ing the foundations of the municipal structure 
deep and strong, as did such men as Frank Rice, 
Joel Hurt, Robert Maddox and Robert Lowry, 
in planting the foundations of the City's business 
structures. 

Mrs. Samuel Inman, who survives her dis- 
tinguished husband, has also displayed a sympa- 
thetic interest in all matters relating to the bet- 
terment of the City and is, and long has been, a 
vital factor in social, religious and eleemosynary 
activities. 

Mrs. Inman is General Federation Director of 
the Georgia Federation of Woman's Clubs; a 
director in the Chamber of Commerce of Atlanta, 
a trustee of Agnes Scott College, was State Chair- 
man of the Council of Defense during the war, 
is ex-president of the Home for Incurables, and 
is one of Atlanta's most zealous exponents of an 
art museum. Though modest and self-effacing, 
and of the type who would not that the left hand 
know what the right hand is doing, she, like her 
great and lamented husband, is a devoted friend 
of every movement that makes for progress along 
the highest and best lines. 

An Atlanta woman who has passed on but 
whose memory lives was Mrs. Livingston Mims, 
whose appreciation for the sweet and beautiful 
is manifested in the exquisite memorial to Sid- 
ney Lanier which stands in Piedmont Park. Mrs. 
Mims left her jewels for this purpose, stipulating 
that they should be sold and the proceeds should 
go into this monument to Georgia's greatest 
poet. This act was typical of the giver, whose 



A FEW PERSONALITIES 389 

life was one of gracious appreciation of things 
worth while. 

Other names one hears in Atlanta when the 
roll of distinguished daughters is being called are 
that of Mrs. James K. Ottley, Mrs. Joseph R. 
Lamar, Miss Isma Dooley, Mrs. Samuel Lumpkin, 
Mrs. LoUie Belle Mylie, Miss Louise Dooley, Mrs. 
Alonzo Richardson, Mrs. AVilliam L. Peel, and 
Miss Nina Hornady. 

Atlanta women are distinguished for their loyal 
support of movements that have to do with the 
common good. As in war they gave of their best 
to keep aflame the fires of patriotism, so in peace 
they have led in all things which tend toward bet- 
ter conditions for the human family. The work 
they have done through the Atlanta Woman's 
Club, which is referred to in another chapter, 
furnish a typical example, and it might be said 
that the spirit of the president of this organiza- 
tion is the spirit of the womanhood of the City. 

The president of the Woman's Club is Mrs. 
Basil Manly Boykin. She was chairman of the 
last war savings stamp drive and with two hun- 
dred and seventy soldiers to assist her, sold near- 
ly one million dollars worth of stamps. She was 
also active in the drive of the Anti-Saloon League 
to bring about a dry America, organizing Wo- 
man's Divisions in six Southern States. Each 
year she serves as chairman of ''Poppy Day" 
for the American Legion, and does the same for 
the Anti-Tuberculosis League in the annual 
Christmas seals campaigns. 

During the World War, Mrs. Boykin became 
known as "The Mother of Camp Gordon," be- 



390 ATLANTA 

cause of her intense interest in the welfare of 
the soldiers stationed in this camp. She organ- 
ized the Woman's Division of the Training Camp 
Activities, later called War Camp Community 
Service, giving from eight to twenty-five enter- 
tainments each week at the camp. She also 
organized the Woman's Division of the Young 
Men's Christian Association and selected women 
for the Overseas Canteen Service. She opened 
the Woman's Department of Camp Gordon, 
where she had twenty uniformed secretaries. 
This organization did valiant service in behalf 
of the soldiers. 

In considering the lives of those who have 
played an important part in the history of Atlan- 
ta, one is confronted with an extraordinary sit- 
uation — one perhaps not paralleled in any other 
community. Here reside three brothers, each of 
whom has won great distinction. Atlantans will 
recognize at once that this reference is to the 
Candler brothers — one famous as a business man 
and a philanthropist, another Senior Bishop of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and 
another a distinguished jurist and an ex-member 
of the Supreme bench of the State of Georgia. 

Quite as interesting as the story of the accomp- 
lishments of these men is the record of their an- 
cestry. Their father, Samuel Charles Candler, 
a merchant in Carroll County, was a son of Dan- 
iel Candler, who was the first Senator in the 
Legislature of Georgia sent from the district then 
composed of Cherokee, Forsyth and Cobb coun- 
ties. His father, William Candler, was a noted 
figure in the Revolutionary War. He became 



A FEW PERSONALITIES 391 

commander of the upper Georgia Regiment when 
General Elijah Clark was promoted to Brigadier 
General, and served with distinction. He par- 
ticipated in the battle of Kettle Creek, the Cow- 
pens, Kings Mountain and Eutaw Springs and in 
the seige of Augusta. He was a member of the 
first State Legislature from Richmond County. 

On the mother's side, the record reveals other 
distinguished figures. Mrs. Candler was Miss 
Martha Bealle, a daughter of Noble P. Bealle, 
who was a son of Major Thaddeus Bealle. of 
Maryland, who commanded a battalion of the 
''Maryland Line" in the army of General Wash- 
ington. Her mother was Justiana Hooper, the 
daughter of Thomas Hooper, of North Carolina. 
Samuel C. Candler's mother was Sarah Slaugh- 
ter, a daughter of Captain Samuel Slaughter, and 
a grand-daughter of Captain Phillip Slaughter, 
of Culpepper County, Virginia. Samuel Slaugh- 
ter had a hand shot off in the last days of the 
seige of Yorktown just before the surrender of 
Cornwallis. 

It is interesting to note that Daniel Candler, 
who came to America in 1730, an Englishman 
from Ireland, was not only a soldier of the French 
and Indian war, but was a distinguished engi- 
neer. He surveyed the State line between Vir- 
ginia and North Carolina and between Virginia, 
Tennessee and Kentucky. Even today some of 
the old stone markers may be seen with his 
initials, "D. C." carved upon them. Another 
interesting item is the fact that when Samuel 
Charles Candler and Miss Martha Bealle were 
married in Cherokee County in December, 1833, 



392 ATLANTA 

the Indians still were numerous in Georgia and 
among the guests at the wedding was a noted 
Indian Chief of that period. Another guest was 
William H. Sparks, a cousin, the author of 
^'Memories of Fifty Yeara in Greorgia." 

Asa G. Candler was born in Carroll County, 
December 30, 1851. The war cost him the oppor- 
tunity to obtain a college education, as it cost 
so many boys of that period. When twenty-one 
years of age, in 1873, he came to Atlanta and 
started his business career as a clerk in the 
store of George J. Howard, at 47 Peachtree Street. 
In 1878, he married Miss Lucy Howard, the 
daughter of George J. Howard, with whom he 
was employed. Later Mr. Howard went out of 
business, and Mr. Candler formed a partnership 
with M. B. Hallman, the firm being known as 
Hallman and Candler. This partnership contin- 
ued for several years, and then Mr. Candler 
bought out his associate. His next step was to 
form a partnership with his father-in-law, the 
firm being known as Howard and Candler, but 
later he purchased the interest of Mr. Howard, 
and the firm became ''Asa G. Candler." 

It was while at the head of this firm that Mr. 
Candler obtained the formula and trade mark for 
the drink which, when he had perfected it, became 
known throughout the country as Coca-Cola, and 
which became the basis of a business enterprise 
of great magnitude. For several years Mr. Cand- 
ler devoted his energies to the development of 
this enterprise, but in 1906, with the erection of 
the great Candler Building, he became president 
of the Central Bank & Trust Corporation. 



A FEW PERSONALITIES 393 

In 1916, Mr. Candler was elected Mayor of the 
City of Atlanta. However, having no desire for 
political honors, he answered this call reluctantly, 
and at the expiration of his term, he gladly re- 
tired to private life. 

Mr. Candler has labored unceasingly for the 
progress of Emory University. His monetary 
gifts have been princely, exceeding two million 
dollars, and he also gave to the institution the 
broad and beautiful acres which constitute the 
campus, and the ground upon which the houses 
of the faculty have been built. 

The latest benefaction of Mr. Candler was the 
large gift to the magnificient hospital now being 
erected in connection with Emory University. 
This vast edifice, dedicated to the cause of heal- 
ing, will represent an investment of a million and 
a half dollars and it will provide facilities second 
to none. Mr. Candler and children contributed 
more than one million dollars to make this splen- 
did institution possible. He has five children, 
Chas. Howard, Asa G., Jr., AValter T. and Wil- 
liam Candler, and Mrs. Lucy Candler Heinz. 

Warren A. Candler, who has the honor of being 
the Senior Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, though three other members of 
the College of Bishops are his senior in years, 
was born in Carroll County August 19, 1857, and 
early in life displayed evidences of the religious 
zeal for which he became distinguished. Before 
he was graduated from Emory College he had 
been licensed to preach, and following his grad- 
uation, the first-honor man of his class, he joined 
the North Georgia Conference. In 1879 he was 



394 ATLANTA 

made Presiding Elder of the Dahlonega District, 
being the youngest man to hold this high office in 
the history of the Conference. Though only 
twenty-two years of age, he served with conspic- 
uous ability, and in 1881 was sent as pastor to 
St. John's Methodist Church in Augusta. 

From Augusta, he went to Nashville as Asso- 
ciate Editor of the Christian Advocate, that great 
organ of Southern Methodism, serving in this 
capacity until 1888 when he was elected President 
of Emory College. He occupied this post until 
May, 1898, when the office of Bishop was con- 
ferred upon him. He became Senior Bishop at 
Hot Springs upon the retirement of Bishop 
Eugene R. Hendricks. 

Bishop Candler was married in November, 
1877, to Miss Antonette Curtright, of La Grange, 
Ga. There are three children, Mrs. Andrew 
Sledd, the wife of Dr. Andrew Sledd; John Curt- 
right Candler, and Samuel Charles Candler the 
third, the first named of the sons being a lieu- 
tenant and the latter a captain in the World War. 

Judge John S. Candler was born in Carroll 
County October 22, 1861. He graduated from 
Emory before he was nineteen and began life 
as a school teacher in DeKalb County in 1880. 
Shortly thereafter he began reading law in the 
office of the firm of which today he is the head. 
He was admitted to the bar in advance of his 
twenty-first birthday, March, 1882, and in 1886 
was appointed Solicitor General of the Stone 
Mountain circuit by Governor John B. Gordon. 
He was then only twenty-five years of age. He 
held this position until January, 1896, when upon 



A FEW PERSONALITIES 395 

the death of Judge Richard H. Clark he was ap- 
pointed Judge of the Superior Courts by Gov- 
ernor Atkinson. 

In 1902, when a vacancy arose in the office of 
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the 
customary convention was not called to provide 
for a nomination, but aspirants were allowed to 
run, each upon his own initiative. In this race, 
Judge Candler was elected by a majority of the 
people of the State, receiving more votes than 
all the other candidates, seven in number, re- 
ceived. 

Judge Candler served as an alderman for six 
years, being elected each time w^ithout opposition, 
and was elected Mayor Pro Tem of the City three 
times. He also was conspicuous in the military 
history of the state. He was Lieutenant-Colonel 
on the staff of Governor A. H. Stephens, being 
promoted to the rank of Colonel and made Judge 
Advocate General of the State in 1895 by Gov- 
ernor McDaniel, upon the creation of this office. 
He was reappointed by Governor Gordon and 
by Governor Northern. He organized the Fifth 
Regiment of the Georgia National Guard in 1893 
and was elected Colonel, holding the commission 
until March, 1901. 

In 1898, Judge Candler commanded the Third 
Georgia Volunteer Infantry in the Spanish Amer- 
ican war, and when America entered the World 
War he had the pleasure of seeing his son, Major 
Asa Warren Candler, carry the old Fifth Regi- 
ment to France to fight the battles of civilization 
on that distant soil. Judge Candler has another 
child, a daughter, the wife of Br. J. Samuel Guy, 



396 ATLANTA 

of Emory University. He was married in Jan- 
uary, 1884, to Miss Louise Garnier, of Jackson- 
ville, Fla., who died in 1905. Subsequently he 
was married to Mrs. Florida George Anderson, 
of Marietta. In January, 1906, after ten years 
upon the Superior Court Bench and as Associate 
Justice of the State Supreme Court, Judge Cand- 
ler resigned to become the head of the firm in 
whose offices he studied law in the days of his 
youth— Candler, Thomson and Hirsch. There 
has been but one change in this firm, this being 
the admission thereto of Major Asa Warren 
Candler upon his graduation from the State Uui- 
versity Law School in 1907. 

Among present day citizens, none give them- 
selves more whole-heartedly to the ^community 
than Frederic J. Paxon, who cast his lot with 
that of Atlanta in 1887 and at once became a 
virile factor in its civic life. 

Mr. Paxon is a member of the firm of Davison- 
Paxon-Stokes Company; vice-president of the 
Maier & Berkle Company; vice-president Cole 
Book Company; a director, Lowry National Bank, 
the Georgia Railway & Power Company, the At- 
lanta Loan and Savings Bank, the Southern 
Mortgage Company, the Southern Photo-Material 
Company, etc., etc., which gives some idea of 
the wide diversity of his business interests. 

In spite of the many claims made upon him by 
business associations, Mr. Paxon has found the 
time, and still finds the time, to give an extra- 
ordinary amount of attention to civic matters. 
He is president of the Atlanta Convention Bu- 
reau, an organization whose work is described 



A FEW PERSONALITIES 397 

elsewhere in this volume and one which is doing 
more than any other instrumentality to keep At- 
lanta before the world. He is an ex-president of 
the Chamber of Commerce; former Chairman of 
the Executive Conmiittee of the Boy Scouts; 
chairman of the Executive Coimnittee of the 
Southeastern Fair Association; is vice-president 
of the Presidents Club, of which lie was the 
organizer; past commandant of the Old Guard 
Battalion; chairman of the Board of Managers 
of the Georgia Training School for Bovs, Mil- 
ledgeville, Ga.; was the State Merchants repre- 
sentative in the Federal Food Administration for 
Georgia during the World AYar; organized, and 
was the first president of the Atlanta Retail Mer- 
chants Association; served as private in the At- 
lanta Grays and the Atlanta Artillery; was Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel on the staff of Governor Joseph M. 
Terrell for six years, and was Chief of Staff with 
rank of Colonel under Governors Joseph M. 
Brown and John M. Slaton. 

Is a trustee of the Morehouse College, the 
Rabun Gap School, the Uncle Remus Memorial 
Association; ex-president of the Carnegie Library 
and the Atlanta Lecture Association, and was a 
member of the State Democratic Executive Com- 
mittee from the State-at-large until 1910. 

Mr. Paxon was born in Philadelphia Julv 22, 
1865, the son of Henry Philip and Elizabeth 
Paxon. He is one of the most representative 
members of the group of business men whose 
boundless optimism and tireless energy has served 
to distinguish Atlanta for its fine civic spirit. 



398 ATLANTA 

A man whose name is inseparably associated 
with the growth and development of modern At- 
lanta is Mell R, Wilkinson, whose zeal for com- 
munity progress has never been second to his 
zeal for individual prosperity. 

Mr. Wilkinson is president of the Ashcraft- 
Wilkinson Company; vice-president of the South- 
ern States Life Insurance Company; a director 
in these companies and also a director in the 
Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad, the 
Georgia Railway & Power Company, the Lowry 
National Bank, the Empire Cotton Oil Company 
and other business institutions. He enjoys the 
high distinction of being life-president of the 
Presidents Club of Atlanta, which might be 
termed the pivot of all civic organizations. He 
is also president of the Atlanta Boy Scout Coun- 
cil and a member of the National Executive 
Board. In this connection he has rendered serv- 
ice of a priceless character in behalf of the boy- 
hood of this City. He also rendered conspicuous 
service as president of the Atlanta Chamber of 
Commerce and during the World War acted as 
assistant secretary of agriculture without com- 
pensation, having charge of matters relating to 
fertilizer and agricultural implements. 

While exceedingly active in all civic matters, 
Mr. Wilkinson has persistently declined to seek 
public honors. In 1906 he was petitioned by a 
large number of his fellow citizens to become a 
candidate for Mayor, but declined, his inclination 
being to serve at some other post without com- 
pensation. 



A FEW PERSONALITIES 399 

Mr. Wilkinson was born in Newnan, Ga., on 
December 31, 1864, from one of the oldest colonial 
families in America. His father, Major Uriel 
B. Wilkinson, was descended from a family that 
had been prominent in Great Britain for more 
than seven hundred years, and M^ho, before his 
death in 1907, had rendered to the state many 
years of public service of an important character. 
The mother of Mell R. Wilkinson was Amelia T. 
Spratlin, who was a member of a Virginia family 
w^hose first American representative was born in 
that state in 1650. 

Mr. Wilkinson began his education by attending 
a private school at Newnan. He then attended 
Mercer University, going from there to the Rich- 
mond (Virginia) College. Following this he at- 
tended Moore's Business College in Atlanta. In 
his eighteenth year, he opened a wholesale sta- 
tionery and printer's supply house on the corner 
where the American National Bank now stands, 
being associated with his brother, John R. Wilkin- 
son. In 1886, when 22 years of age, he married 
Miss Annie B. VanAVinkle, a daughter of Edward 
and Amelia King VanWinkle. His father-in-law 
was an inventor of great genius and ability and 
was extensively engaged in the manufacture of 
articles of his own creation. Realizing the need 
of assistance in financing and handling these 
products, Mr. VanWinkle associated hhnself 
with Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. E. P. McBurney, 
and organized the VanWinkle Gin and Machinery 
Company. Mr. Wilkinson was secretary and 
treasurer until 1912, during which time the com- 



400 ATLANTA 

pany extended its operations into every part of 
the Avorld where cotton is produced. 

In 1912, Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Lee Ashcraft 
organized the Ashcraft- Wilkinson Company, with 
Mr. Wilkinson's son as an associate. The com- 
pany handles fertilizers and all allied products, 
and now owns several concerns of this kind. 
Some idea of the magnitude of the business may 
be obtained from the statement that at the out- 
break of the World War, this company was the 
world's largest importer of potash. Mr. Ash- 
craft, who is vice-president of the company, for- 
merly was general sales manager for the Inter- 
national Agricultural Corporation of New York. 

Samuel C. Dobbs is a man who has made his- 
tory in Atlanta, and his life is one that is strong 
in the element of romance. He was born in the 
Western part of Georgia, near Villa Eica, on 
November 8, 1869. Financially, his father had 
been ruined by the Civil War, and he was not 
able to send this son, the oldest, to school. Mr. 
Dobbs ' entire school training was little more than 
one year, but he studied assiduously each night 
by a kerosene lamp, and with his another as 
teacher. During the short time he spent in 
school, he earned a scholarship, but could not 
take advantage of this opportunity. 

His father's health failed, and when Mr. Dobbs 
was fourteen, and he was forced to take charge 
of the plantation, and earn a livelihood for the 
family. When he was 21 years of age, he drove 
to Atlanta, forty-five miles distant, in an ox-cart 
and went to work as porter in the drug store of 
Asa G. Candler & Compan}^, at a salary of one 











/ 



Lii4^_^..^ 




A FEW PERSONALITIES 401 

dollar per day. He continued his studies at night 
and also took up the study of pharmacy. He 
later was permitted to serve in capacity of sales- 
man in this drug store, book-keeper, credit man, 
and prescription clerk. 

In 1888 Mr. Candler bought the formula for 
Coca-Cola, and Mr. Dobbs was the first salesman 
to go on the road, carrying samples of this soda 
fountain syrup in quart bottles, and placing it 
mth soda fountains in any quantities ifrom a 
quart to a gallon. Mr. Dobbs' ability as a sales- 
man caused Mr. Candler to place additional re- 
sponsibilities upon him and he took Mr. Dobbs 
into the office in Atlanta as bookkeeper and credit 
man. He was later promoted to manager of sales, 
then sales and advertising manager, and was 
made vice-president of the company in 1916. In 
1920 the Coca-Cola Company was reorganized 
and Mr. Dobbs was made president, in which 
capacity he served until he resigned November 
1, 1921, to devote his time to private and personal 
interests. 

In 1909 Mr. Dobbs was approached with refer- 
ence to serving as president of the Associated 
Advertising Clubs. After much persuasion he 
consented to let his name be presented to the con- 
vention convening at Louisville, Ky. On August 
1, 1909, he was elected to this office, and at that 
time the Association meant little more than an 
organization which convened once each year for 
a few days of real fun. It did not seem to have 
any definite, constructive purpose in mind. At 
that convention there were only 379 delegates. 



402 ATLANTA 

Mr. Dobbs was not well known among the ad- 
vertising men of this country, but he mapped out 
a program for the Association and devoted nearly 
all his time to making this the organization that 
it deserved to be. He saw an opportunity to 
do advertising generally and the whole country 
a real service, and he struck the key-note at the 
Louisville Convention — "Truth in Advertising." 
The Association met in 1910 at Omaha, Nebraska, 
and there were something like 1,000 registered 
delegates. Mr. Dobbs was re-elected to succeed 
himself, the first president in the history of the 
organization to serve two terms. The Associa- 
tion had become a serious minded body of men 
and was accomplishing big things in putting ad- 
vertising on the proper basis with other bus- 
inesses. When the Association met in Boston in 
1911, there were over 2,200 registered delegates, 
including the biggest and brainiest men in the 
advertising world. 

During his two years as president, Mr. Dobbs 
traveled 45,000 miles — at his own expense — and 
made more than 100 speeches to advertising clubs 
and advertising organizations. The first year of 
his administration he started an official organ 
for the Association — "The Voice." It was later 
called "Associated Advertising" and is an im- 
portant factor. During his service as president, 
under the guidance of Mr. Herbert S. Houston, 
later a president of the Association, advertising 
study courses were installed in hundreds of adver- 
tising clubs, and in many of the big colleges and 
universities. Today nearly every college of any 
consequence is interested in this course. 



A FEW PERSONALITIES 403 

Mr. Dobbs made good in a big way and placed 
the Association on a firm foundation, until today 
it is one of the strongest organizations in the 
world, having clubs in Cuba, Honolulu, England, 
and many other foreign countries. 

Since Mr. Dobbs started the slogan ''Truth in 
Advertising," many local clubs have organized 
Vigilance Committees, and the National Associa- 
tion co-operates with the local clubs, through the 
National Vigilance Committee, to the extent that 
many concerns making misrepresentations in 
their advertising have gone into bankruptcy, and 
many are now serving sentences in the State and 
Federal prisons for "Untruthful Advertising." 

As a token of appreciation for the remarkable 
work he accomplished, Mr. Dobbs received at the 
Boston Convention in 1911, a five passenger auto- 
mobile, solid silver service, a hand hammered lov- 
ing cup, and many other gifts. He had gone into 
the Association as president almost unknown, and 
when he turned over the gavel at Boston he was 
not only a national, but an international figure 
in the advertising and business world. 

Realizing the handicap he suffered on account 
of lack of education, Mr. Dobbs is devoting much 
time and money to sending boys and girls to 
school, when they are unable to finance them- 
selves. He now has a number of these boys and 
girls on his list, and gets great pleasure out of 
the fact that he is doing them a kindness and a 
service. 

At an expenditure of a hundred thousand dol- 
lars, he presented Emory University with a beau- 



404 ATLANTA 

tiful dormitory, which is known as "Dobbs 
Dormitory. ' ' 

Mr. Dobbs organized the Warrant Export Cot- 
ton Corporation of Birmingham, Alabama, and 
is President of this Corporation, making annual 
trips to Europe in its interest. 

Among present day Atlantans of the finer type 
who are carrying this City forward to increasing 
greatness in the world of business, none is men- 
tioned more frequently than Lee Ashcraft, vice- 
president of the Ashcraft- Wilkinson Company, 
and a prime mover in the civic life of the com- 
munity. 

Mr. Ashcraft is a native of Alabama, having 
been born in Clay County in 1871, a son of 
Andrew Jackson Ashcraft. He attended the 
schools of his native state, and in 1893 graduated 
from the Alabama Polytechnic Institute at Au- 
burn. His first important work brought him in 
contact with one of the great engineering figures 
of the age, Colonel Goethals, who then was in 
charge of the building of the Muscles Shoals 
Canal on the Tennessee River at Florence, Ala. 

Moving to Atlanta in 1910, from Florence, Ala., 
where he had achieved conspicuous success as a 
business man, Mr. Ashcraft won immediate 
recognition as an able executive and a tireless 
civic worker. During the World War he served 
as secretary of the State Council of Defense and 
as chairman of its executive committee. At the 
same time he served as a member of the Sulphur 
Committee of the War Industries Board, where 
he brought to bear a technical skill that was of 
great value. 



A FEW PERSONALITIES 405 

As chairman of the Atlanta Chapter of the 
American Red Cross, as president of the Asso- 
ciated Charities, president of the Atlanta Cham- 
ber of Commerce, vice-president of the South- 
eastern Fair Association and vice-president of 
the Rotary Club, he has rendered effective com- 
munity service, and is esteemed for the excel- 
lence of his works in behalf of the community in 
which he lives, as well as for his generosity of 

Mr. Ashcraft was married in 1902 to Miss Mary 
Bayless, of Florence, Ala., and one daughter, just 
entering upon womanhood, graces this union. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Education of the Negro 

EXCEPTIONAL advantages are offered 
members of the colored race in Atlanta, 
where several of the leading religious 
denominations have established institu- 
tions that rank among the foremost of their kind 
in the United States. Two of these date back to 
1867 and the others have been in operation for 
many years, with the result that their influence 
in shaping the life of the colored people of the 
South has been very great. 

The Morehouse College, conducted under the 
auspices of the American Baptist Home Mission 
Society, was organized in 1870 at Augusta, Ga., 
being moved to Atlanta a few years later. It 
occupied originally a small site near the present 
Terminal Station, but it had grown to such pro- 
portions by 1890 that the institution was removed 
to its present location. The first name of More- 
house College was "The Augusta Institute.'' 
This was changed to "The Atlanta Baptist Semi- 
nary" when it was removed to Atlanta. In 1897 
amendments to the charter were secured, grant- 
ing fuU college powers, and the name was changed 
to "Atlanta Baptist College.'* The name "More- 
house College" was adopted in 1913, in honor 
of Rev. Henry L. Morehouse, D.D., corresponding 
secretary of the American Baptist Home Mission 
Society and an outstanding friend of the colored 
race. In 1918 the college became affiliated with 



EDUCATION OF THE NEGRO 407 

the general organization of the Students Army 
Training Corps. 

A campus of thirteen acres furnishes a splen- 
did setting for the institution. It occupies one 
of the highest points in the city, being 1,100 feet 
above sea level, and commands a fine view of the 
city and surrounding country. A new athletic 
field was provided only about a year ago, and 
here ample provision is made for football, base- 
ball, tennis, track events, etc. The buildings, 
most of which are comparatively new and of 
modern design, are grouped in pleasing fashion 
and are well equipped for the purposes for which 
they were designed. 

Morehouse is emphatically a Christian school 
and is supported by Christian people for the 
Christian education of young men. The Young 
Men's Christian Association is one of the most 
flourishing institutions in the college, and under 
its direction members are assigned to work in 
local Sunday schools and churches, thus obtain- 
ing practical experience in Christian labor. 
There are numerous other organizations for the 
development of mind and body, including literary 
societies, a glee club, debating society, orchestra, 
football, baseball, tennis and basketball teams, 
etc. Thus religious, literary and athletic activ- 
ities are encouraged. Hundreds of students have 
gone out of this college to enter the ministry, 
as well as other useful fields, and it has exercised 
a great influence in shaping the lives of its people. 

Spelman Seminary is another institution main- 
tained by the American Baptist Home Mission 
Board, which does for the colored girl what More- 



408 ATLANTA 

house College does for the boy. It, too, has done 
and is doing a highly constructive work for the 
race. A tine site, adorned by nearly a dozen well- 
appointed buildings, furnishes the primary equip- 
ment of Spelman Seminary. 

The growth of this institution is eloquent to 
the fidelity with which it has done its work 
Starting in 1881 in a dingy church basement, 
with equipment consisting of a Bible, paper and 
pencils, it has developed into one of the great 
educational institutions of the South. A graphic 
idea of the physical equipment as it is today 
may be gathered from the illustration which ap- 
pears on another page. But no picture can con- 
vey an adequate idea of the work that has been 
and is being accomplished in shaping human 
materials. "To train home-makers, teachers and 
nurses, and to cultivate Christian character." 
These are the high purposes behind the institu- 
tion, and its zeal has never been known to lag. 
A splendid new building, devoted to home eco- 
nomics, is helping to put the industrial side of 
Spelman Institute on a very high plane, making 
it possible to train teachers and supervisors and 
to give them the best along these lines. Nurse 
training also has made remarkable advances dur- 
ing the past few years, the Bessie Strong Nurses' 
Home being an important factor in this connec- 
tion. Graduate nurses are prepared for State 
examination, for registration in any State, and 
Georgia now has a number of these graduates 
who may place ''R.N." after their names 

The Teachers' Professional Course and the 
Professional Home Economics Course are ac- 



EDUCATION OF THE NEGRO 409 

credited by the State of Georgia, the graduates 
of Spelman receiving State certificates. The 
Bible is taught in every department and grade, 
and there is a Sunday School Teachers Training 
Course, open to seniors, juniors and post-grad- 
uates. Over 300 Spelman graduates hold certifi- 
cates or diplomas from the Intermediate Sunday 
School Association. 

The faculty of Spelman consists today of about 
60 teachers, officers and matrons, and the value 
of the property is in excess of $500,000. The 
president of this remarkably efficient institution 
is Lucy Hale Tapley, under whose direction it 
is moving on to increasing greatness. 

Clark University is a Christian school, founded 
in the year 1870 by the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and is still largely dependent upon that 
church for its financial support. It has, however, 
a large prospective endowment in the 350 acres 
of land it possesses in the outskirts of the city 
of Atlanta. 

The prime object in its founding in 1870 was 
to furnish to the newly emancipated people an 
open door into the higher and broader realms 
of learning where they might have opportunity 
to develop mentally and spiritually. Few schools 
have been favored with a more desirable location 
for the ends to be reached. Of all the States 
Georgia has the largest Negro population, and 
by its central position, geographically, brings the 
other states within easy reach of the institution, 
while the numerous railroads radiating from the 
city render it easy of access to students. A more 
healthful location it would be difficult to find 



410 ATLANTA 

On the campus are four large, substantial 
brick buildings. The main building recently com- 
pleted at an approximate cost of $215,000, con- 
tains a beautiful chapel, with seating capacity 
for 800, while the west wing houses a gymnasium 
with swimming pool and all modern equipment. 
Between the chapel and gymnasium is the admin- 
istrative department, containing offices of the 
president, dean, registrar, and various class 
rooms on the first and second floors, while the 
entire third floor, well lighted and modernly 
equipped with laboratories, furishes ample space 
for the science department. 

On the campus are six cottages occupied by 
professors and their families. 

Among other buildings and occupying a com- 
manding position, stands the Thayer Home, 
named for a former president of Clark Univer- 
sity. This Home was founded and is still sup- 
ported by the Woman's Home Missionary Soci- 
ety of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the 
training of young women in the essentials of 
home-making, and for the teaching of domestic 
science. The Society recently has spent $30,000 
for the enlargement and better equipment of this 
Home, enabling the institution to care for fifty 
young resident students. Enlarged and embel- 
lished, this Home now stands out one of the most 
beautiful and attractive buildings on the Clark 
University premises. 

Among the oldest and best known institutions 
of Atlanta is the Gammon Theological Seminary, 
founded through the foresight of Bishop Grilbert 
Haven. He had the vision to see the possibilities 



EDUCATION OF THE NEGRO 411 

of such an institution, and the Freedmen's Aid 
Society, recognizing these possibilities, co-op- 
erated with the Bishop in acquiring a site of 500 
acres for the proposed Seminary. This was in 
1881 when Dr. Haven was resident Bishop in At- 
lanta. When this magnificent site was acquired, 
Clark University, which had been occupying 
cramped quarters, was moved thereto. 

In the spring of 1882, Bishop Henry W. War- 
ren, resident Bishop at the time, presented the 
cause of a trained ministry for the colored people 
to the Rev. Elijah J. Gammon, of Batavia, Illi- 
nois, a retired minister who had shown an intense 
interest in the welfare of the race. Dr. Gammon, 
sensing- the possibilities of a great institution of 
the kind located in the heart of the South, gave 
$20,000 to endow a chair of Theology in the Clark 
University, and a pledge of $5,000 toward a new 
hall ; the gifts being contingent only upon an addi- 
tional sum of $20,000 being raised to complete the 
New Hall of Theology. 

Bishop Warren met this challenge promptly 
and the corner stone of Gammon Hall was laid 
on May 12, 1883, the school being opened the 
following October. Mr. Gammon later set aside 
property valued at about $200,000 to be used as 
an endowment for the school ; this property being 
administered by the Methodist Episcopal Church 
and its income paid to the Freedmen's Aid Soci- 
ety for the benefit of the institution. Gammon 
Theological Seminary was then made distinct and 
separate from Clark University. This was in 
1887, since which time it has increased in great- 
ness and in the magnitude of the work performed. 



412 ATLANTA 

Upon his death in 1891, it was found that Rev. 
Gammon had made the Seminary a legatee to 
one-half the residuary portion of his estate. Thus 
he not only fostered the institution during life, 
but made provision for it with the approach of 
life's end. His wife also was profoundly inter- 
ested in the w^ork and co-operated with Mr. Gam- 
mon in all his efforts to deepen and to broaden 
it. 

New building were added to the plant from 
time to time until it became the large and ade- 
quate institution of today. Graduates have gone 
out from year to year to all parts of the South, 
as well as to other quarters, and their influence 
undoubtedly has had a tremendous effect upon 
the religious life of the race. Trained not only 
in the theory of their calling, but given much 
practical work to do in and about Atlanta while 
passing through the Seminary, they go forth well 
qualified for the life of service they have under- 
taken. 

The oldest among the institutions founded for 
the education of negroes is the Atlanta Univer- 
sity, founded in 1865. The institution is beauti- 
fully situated upon the summit of a hill in the 
Western part of the City, and is surrounded by 
a campus of sixty acres. While essentially 
Christian, Atlanta University is non-denomina- 
tional, though founded under the auspices of the 
American Missionary Association by Edmund 
Asa Ware, who was a graduate of Yale Univer- 
sity. He became president of the institution and 
remained at this post until his death twenty 
years later. There are seven substantial build- 



EDUCATION OF THE NEGRO 413 

ings, the value of the property as a whole being 
about $300,000. Instruction in manual training 
and domestic science is required of all high school 
students. 

Another_ institution for colored people is the 
Morris Brown University, which is controlled by 
the African Methodist Episcopal Church. It 
furnishes a splendid illustration of what colored 
people can do for themselves under the leadership 
of men who are actuated by the right spirit and 
who are qualified for the work in which they are 
engaged, and is an important factor in the educa- 
tional life of Atlanta as it relates to the training 
and uplifting of the colored race. One of the 
prime movers behind Morris Brown is Bishop 
Joseph Simeon Flipper, of Atlanta. 

In view of the great work the negroes are doing 
and have been doing in the cause of education in 
the City of Atlanta, it was fitting that the first 
recognition given the negro race at a great expo- 
sition in the South, was given in the South, was 
given in Atlanta. Here, when the Piedmont Ex- 
position of 1887 was held, a building was provided 
for the display of things created by the negro, 
and this building was opened with ceremonies in 
which many distinguished men of the white race 
took part. Incidentally, one of the speakers on 
this occasion was Booker T. Washington and it 
is of more than passing interest that the speech 
he made at that time was the one which carried 
him to sudden fame. Until then he was not very 
well kno^Ti. After this speech he was one of the 
best known men of his race and his fame in- 



414 ATLANTA 

creased until he was generally recognized as the 
foremost negro of his age. 

Manifestly, the negroes of Atlanta, and of the 
South, for that matter, have had numerous lead- 
ers of unselfish motives and great ability, other 
than Booker Washington, though most of them 
labored without such distinguished recognition. 
In Atlanta one of the foremost figures among the 
race is Bishop Joseph Simeon Flipper, a man 
whose influence has been felt throughout the 
South, and who has been a virile factor in the 
development of the educational and religious life 
of his people. A man of remarkable attainments 
is Bishop Flipper. Born in 1859, when slavery 
still was a fact, his childhood spent amid the tur- 
moil and uncertainty of great civil strife, he some- 
how managed to obtain an education, and then 
successively became a school teacher, a pastor, 
the dean of a college, (Morris Brown) then pres- 
ident of this college, and finally, a Bishop of the 
A. M. E. Church, South, being elected at Colum- 
bus, Ohio, in 1900. While progressing thus, he 
accumulated considerable property and is now 
possessed of large financial resources. A far 
cry, this, from the cabin home of 1859, but it is 
a journey the like of which an increasing number 
of intelligent members of his race are taking as 
the result of such facilities are offered members 
of the race in the educational institutions of At- 
lanta. 



416 



ATLANTA 




Chronology of Atlanta 

1821-1902 



IN the following pages it is the intention to 
bring out briefly the more important develop- 
ments in the history of Atlanta, begmning 
with the transfer in 1821 of the land upon 
which the City stands and continuing until 1902, 
after which date events may be termed contem- 
poranious rather than historical. This chronol- 
ogy is designed to give paragraphic information 
upon many incidents which it has been impossible 
to treat more extensively in a single volume, as 
well as to afford the reader an easy means of 
acquiring a comprehensive knowledge of the City's 
past without the necessity of extensive research. 



1821.— The land upon which 
Atlanta stands is conveyed to 
the State by the Creek Nation. 

1825.— First land lottery held, 
the site of Atlanta passing into 
the hands of private owners. 
Land lot 78, on which the great 
majority of Atlanta's sky-scrap- 
ers stand, was drawn by a wo- 
man, Jane Doss. 

1826.— Property drawn by Jane 
Doss, (202 1-2 acres,) is now 
owned by Mathew Henry, who 
purchased it from Jane Doss for 
$50, or less than 25 cents an 
acre. 

1827-1832.— These years wit- 
nessed no improvements in the 
land which had become private 
property, and the Indians 
roamed it at will. 

1833. — Hardy Ivy erects first 
house on the land which i.s to 
become the site of Atlanta. 



1834. — Rumors of prospective 
railroads penterate the wilder- 
ness. 

1835.— The Central Railroad is 
chartered. 

1836. — W^ork begins on Geor- 
gia Railroad, destined to be the 
first to reach Atlanta. 

1837.— The name "Terminus" 
is given to the future city. The 
first inn, "The Whitehall," is 
erected by Chamer Humphries. 

1838.— First train reaches For- 
syth over new road from Ma- 
con. Eviction of Indians be- 
gins. 

1839.— First store erected by 
John Thrasher. 

1840. — Thrasher becomes dis- 
couraged and leaves, but re- 
turns later on. 

1841.— First depot, a frame 
structure, erected. Willis Carl- 



418 



ATLANTA 



Isle and wife move here, com- 
ing from Marietta, where they 
had just been married. 

1842. — First child born in 
Terminus, daughter of Mr. and 
Mrs. TVillis Carlisle. Western & 
Atlantic Railroad reaches Mar- 
ietta; first train run there from 
Terminus. 

1843 — Name of town changed 
to Marthasville in honor of the 
daughter of Governor Lumpkin. 
Municipal government created 
with five commissioners in 
charge. 

1844. — First industry, a saw 
mill, established by Jonathan 
Norcross. Hon. John C. Cal- 
houn visits Marthasville and 
makes glowing prophecy con- 
cerning its future. John Thrash- 
er, who had abandoned the 
town returns and opens store. 

1S45. — Name changed to At- 
lanta. First newspaper, The 
Democrat, launched. Sept. 15, 
first train from outside world 
arrives, coming from Augusta; 
is occasion of great celebration. 
Cabinet shop and coffin fac- 
tory started by William 
WTiitaker. First protracted 
meeting held. Movement started 
for formation of Atlanta Med- 
ical College. Earthenware fac- 
tory started by J. R. Graver. 
First school opened. About 20 
families now living in the town. 

1846.— Arrival of first train 

from Macon celebrated. Three 

new weeklies started. The 
Luminary, The Enterprise and 

Southern Miscellany. First 

brick hotel, The Atlanta, erect- 
ed. 

1847.-r"City" charter is ob- 
tained by Atlanta, aldermanic 
system of government being 
installed; Moses M. Formwalt 
first mayor. First Sunday 
School organized. Joint School 
and Church building erected. 
Atlanta and West Point Rail- 
road chartered. Methodist 
church and Baptist church 
erected. First Masonic lodge, 
Atlanta No. 59, organized Oct. 
26; Mt. Zion Royal Chapter of 
Masons organized. Episcopal 
Church org^anized. Two new 
schools, private, opened. First 



bank started by John F. Mims, 
agent of the Georgia Railroad. 

1848. — First foundry and ma- 
chine shop erected by A. Ley- 
den, S. H. Ellis, Richard Peters 
and J. F. Mims. Council au- 
thorizes first sidewalk, to be 
built of wood. First Baptist 
church formally organized; also 
First Presbyterian. Masonic 
Lodge No. 28, organized. First 
Methodist Sunday School orga- 
nized; Wesley Chapel dedicated 
by Bishop James O. Andrews. 
Board of Health elected. Macon 
bank establishes branch in At- 
lanta. 

1849. — First daily newspaper. 
The Intelligencer, is started.. B. 
P. Bomar elected mayor. First 
telegraph office opened in May; 
first commercial message sent 
to Philadelphia by Dr. E. K. 
Cane, arctic explorer. W. F. 
Martin now manufacturing 
buggies and wagons. Western 
& Atlantic Railroad completed 
to Chattanooga in December. 
Atlanta and West Point Rail- 
road completed, making fourth 
line entering city. ^ ^. 

1850.— Willis Buell electeT^ 
mayor. Offer of $1,000 and a 
site made for permanent lo- 
cation of fair of Southern Ag- 
ricultural Association. The 
Church of Christ ora:anized. 
First State- Fair held. N. ■ E. 
Gardner begins manufacture of 
buggies and wagons. Mills & 
Andrews start harness factory. 
William "V^Hiitaker begins man- 
ufacture of furniture. 

1851. — Jonathan Norcross in- 
stalled as Mayor. First vol- 
unteer fire department orga- 
nized, Atlanta Fire Company, 
No. 1. Ordinance passed re- 
quiring all houses to be pro- 
vided with a ladder and two 
buckets as a precaution against 
fire. Digging of three wells au- 
thorized by council. Agitation 
for erection of city hall begins. 
Church of the Immaculate Con- 
ception organized. Butter sell- 
ing from 15 to 20 cents a pound; 
ham 14 to 15 cents; bacon 7 
to 8 cents; cotton 6 to 9 cents. 
Evans Chapel, Methodist, 

founded. Factories multiply- 
ing— G. C. Rogers & Bros., 
operating tannery, John Wil- 



CHRONOLOGY 



419 



liamson manufacturing tin- 
ware, Williams Bros., manu- 
facturing furniture and matcli- 
es. Emmel and Cunnigham 
manufacturing candy. Five pri- 
vate, schools opened during 
year. 

1852.— I. P. Gibbs elected may- 
or. The Bank of Atlanta or- 
ganized. Industrial expansion 
continues — Copper stills being 
made by Formwalt & Toraph- 
son; hat factory has been 
opened on Decatur street; 
freight cars and cotton gins are 
being made by Joseph Winship, 
together with sash and doors: 
a book bindery has been started 
by William Kay, and a large 
flour mill has been erected by 
Richard and W. G. Peters. 
Erection of the Fulton House, 
a three-story hotel, begins at 
Alabama and Pryor streets. 

18.52. — J. F. Mims elected 
mayor, receiving 369 votes — the 
town is growing and a night 
police force of three men is 
inaugurated. Street lamps, oil 
burning, are authorized, the 
same to be maintained by the 
citizens. Mission Sunday school 
which developed into the Trin- 
ity Methodist Church, is started. 
Second Baptist Church orga- 
nized. Winship Machine Com- 
pany organized. Business of 
Georgia Railroad depot for year 
is $23,807. Fulton County cre- 
ated by Legislature out of por- 
tion of DeKalb. Mayor Mims 
resigned Oct. 29, being suc- 
ceeded by William Markham. 
Talmadge & Kirkpatrick start 
furniture factory; Gilbert & 
Strong operating planing mill 
and manufacturing beds. 

1854.— William Butts elected 
mayor. Major George Shaw, 
veteran of the War of 1812, 
dies. Whitehall street ordered 
paved with macadam. Night 
police force increased to six 
men. Citizens neglect to fill oil 
lamps and agitation for gas 
plant begins. Corporate limits 
extended. Mayor authorized to 
prepare corporate seal for city. 
First engine house erected at 
a cost of $800. The "go-get-it" 
habit forming, as movement is 
launched to bring State Cap- 
ital to Atlanta. City Hall erect- 



ed, being opened with "grand 
ball." Use of City Hall granted 
to Medical College. Brick side- 
walks ordered put down on 
"W'hitehall and Alabama streets. 
Atlanta Bank withstands "run" 
in which large sums are with- 
drawn. Population now 6,025. 
The "Trout House," first large 
hotel, takes out license. 

1855.— The "Know-Nothing" 
party reaches formidable uro- 
portions and makes stiff fight 
for control of municipal gov- 
ernment. Allison Nelson, Dem- 
ocrat, elected mayor over I. O. 
Daniel, "Know-Nothing." by 
vote of 425 to 415. Pitts & 
Cook begin manufacture of gins 
and threshing machines. Con- 
tract for gas plant executed 
and order placed for fifty "or- 
namental" lamp posts. Mayor 
Nelson resigns July 6, being 
succeeded by John Glenn. 
Another "run" on the Atlanta 
Bank, which survives after pay- 
ing out about $800,000. City 
first lighted by gas on Christ- 
mas Day. The Atheneum, early 
theatre, erected on site of Kim- 
ball House by James E. Wil- 
liams. City offers $3,000 for per- 
manent location of State Fair. 
Cigar factory started. 

1856.— .John Glenn elected 
mayor. Salary of Prof. A. W. 
Owen, teacher of the "free 
school," increased to $600 a 
year. City subscribes for $3,- 
000 of the stock of the Chatta- 
hoochee Bridge Company. Me- 
chanics Fire Company No. 2, 
volunteers, organized. "Soft 
drink" industry begins with 
manufacture of "soda water" 
by T. W. West. Brick hotel 
and three stores erected on 
Whitehall streets by E. W. 
Holland. Bank of Fulton orga- 
nized. Georgia Railroad & 
Banking Company opens branch 
bank. J. M. Mims, former may- 
or, dies. 

1857. — William Ezzard elected 
mayor. Fulton Lodge No. 216 
organized. City subscribes for 
$100,000 of the capital stock of 
the Georgia Air Line Railroad, 
running to Charlotte, N. C. In- 
debtedness of city now $46,- 
315.77. Council authorizes 25 
additional street lamps. Fire 



420 



ATLANTA 



limits adopted. Steps taken to 
organize Y. M. C. A. Atlanta 
& West Point Railroad com- 
pleted. Atlanta Rolling Mill 
started; was here that iron 
for the famous "Merrimac" was 
rolled. Broom factory started. 
Stewart & Austin begin erec- 
tion of flour mill. Whisky dis- 
tillery and brewery started. 
Pitts & Cook build planing mill. 
Eighth hotel, "The National," 
erected. 

1858. — L. J. Glenn elected 
mayor. Local mechanics make 
vigorous protest to city coun- 
cil against use of slave labor 
in industrial plants. Additional 
subscription of $100,000 to stock 
of Air Line Railroad authorized 
by vote of the people. Ordi- 
nance passed requiring cattle to 
be kept up at night. Y. M. C. 
A. organized and work started 
under leadership of B. H. Over- 
by, president, and N. J. Ham- 
mond, secretary. Central Pres- 
byterian church organized. 
Merchants protest against al- 
leged rate discriminations by 
railroads. David Crockett hang- 
ed for murder of a farmer 
named Landrum, robbery being 
the motive of the crime; first 
execution in Atlanta. 

1859. — L. J. Glenn re-elected 
mayor; reports finances in good 
shape, city, having paid off 
floating debt of $3,000. Gas 
company, in which city holds 
$19,000 of stocks, pays 10 per 
cent dividend. Tallulah Fire 
Company No. 3, organized; 
another volunteer company. 
Local slave dealers protest 
against intrusion of outside 
dealers; ask that heavy license 
be imposed. City suffers from 
wood famine. Business men be- 
gin active fight against rate 
discriminations. Willis Carlisle, 
City Marshal, and father of first 
child born in Atlanta, dies. 
Agitation for free public schools 
begins. L. S. Blake killed 
while assisting in fighting fire 
on Alabama street; first fire 
fighter to lose his life in city. 
Jefferson Davis, then United 
States Senator, arrested in At- 
lanta "on guspicion," much to 
the embarrassment of the may- 
or. Salary of the mayor in- 



creased from $500 to $1,000 per 
year. Planters Hotel erected. 

I860.— William Ezzard elected 
mayor. City subscribes for 
$300,000 of Georgia Western 
Railroad stock. Stephen A. 
Douglas visits Atlanta and 
makes speech in favor of per- 
petuating Union, using lan- 
guage that arouses considerable 
feeling among Southerners. 
Speech followed by first steps 
toward organization of "Minute 
Men." Association of Minute 
Men formed Nov. 8. with many 
prominent citizens enrolled. 
Central Presbyterian Church 
building completed. City given 
authority to tax saloons $300 
and lotteries $500 a year. Rate 
agitation continues, merchants 
charging that railroads are in 
a conspiracy against Atlanta. 
W. W. Baldwin, ex-president 
volunteer fire company No. 1, 
dies. New Masonic temple ded- 
icated. 

1861.— W. JVI. and R. J. Low- 
rey start bank. Jared I. Whita- 
ker defeats William Ezzard for 
Mayor after most acrimonious 
campaign in history of city, 
vote being 695 to 452. Delega- 
tion to state convention, which 
is to determine whether or not 
Georgia is to withdraw from 
the Union, elected on same day, 
candidates favoring withdraw- 
al winning by large majorities. 
Atlanta Grays elect A. M. Wal- 
lace captain. Jan. 3 Georgia 
Volunteers organized. Jan. 25 
Volunteer company organized, 
G. W. Lee, captain. Feb. 15, 
Jefferson Davis, newly elected 
president of the Confederate 
States of America, guest of 
city; given military escort to 
Trout House, where reception 
described as "most brilliant" 
in history of city, is tendered. 
Feb. 24, first Atlanta soldiers 
leave to join army at Savan- 
nah; 18 in party. Atlanta Grays 
Fulton Dragoons, Atlanta Ca- 
dets and Fulton Blues ready 
for action. Feb. 27, Davis In- 
fantry organized. March 12, 
Alexander H. Stephens, vice- 
president of Confedracy, vis- 
its city and is given enthusias- 
tic reception. Delivered bril- 
liant address, predicting that 



CHRONOLOGY 



421 



Ft. Sumter would surrender 
within ten days. April 1, Gate 
City Guards leave for Pensa- 
cola, William L. Ezzard, cap- 
tain. April 17, Atlanta ladies 
organize to provide comforts for 
soldiers. April 18, news of se- 
cession of Virginia received 
with vast enthusiasm. April 19, 
Committee of Safety organized. 
April 24, Confederate Volunteers 
organized, L. J. Gartrell, cap- 
tain. Stephens Rifles organized 
same day, L. J. Glenn, captain. 
April 26, Silver Grays organiz- 
ed, composed exclusively of 
men over 45 years of age; Hub- 
bard Cozart, captain. Volun- 
teer fire companies form them- 
selves into "Home Brigade." 
April 29, Safe Guards organized. 
May 6, citizens of German ex- 
traction organize Steuben Rifles, 
M. Jul. Lichtenstadt, captain. 
May 8, volunteer regiment 
formed. May 18, Phillips Rifles 
formed, S. C. Rose, captain. 
May 24, Free Trade Rifles or- 
ganized under name of Con- 
federate Continentals. E. M. 
Seago, captain. May 28, Atlan- 
ta Amateurs organized for re- 
lief work, S. H. B. Oatman, 
superintendent. Mechanics Ri- 
fles organized, C. H. Castello, 
captain. July 23, Confederate 
Guards enter service. Aug. 9, 
Fulton County proclaimed ban- 
ner county of state, having 
eleven companies in the serv- 
ice and the Fulton Dragoons 
ready to go. Oct. 7, Fulton 
True Blue^, organized, Albert 
Howell, captain. October 19, 
Whittaker Volunteers organiz- 
ed, M. M. Raspberry, captain. 
Confederate Government invited 
to make Atlanta Capitol, and 
use of public buildings tendered. 
Mayor Whitaker resigns to be- 
come Commissary- General of 
Georgia (Nov. 23), and is suc- 
ceeded Dec. 13, by Thomas F. 
Lowe. 

1862.— J. M. Calhoun elected 
mayor. April 12, City startled 
by news of Andrews Raid. June 
7, James L. Andrews, leader of 
Andrews' Raiders, executed in 
Atlanta. June 18, Samuel Rob- 
binson, Samuel Shavens, Wil- 
liam Campbell. Marion A. Ross, 
George D. W^ilson, John Scott 
and Perry G. Shadrack execu- 



ted in Atlanta for participation 
in Andrews Raid. Atlanta made 
military post in June. Aug. 16, 
martial law declared by Gen- 
eral Bragg. Mayor Calhoun ap- 
pointed "Civil Governor" of 
Atlanta. Sept. 3, habeas cor- 
pus suspended. Oct. 16, St. Phil- 
hps Hospital and Aid Society 
organized. Conscription notice 
calls all able-bodied men be- 
tween ages of 35. and 45 into 
military service. Oct. 16, con- 
scripts between ages of 18 and 
45 called. July 1, all persons 
between ages of 18 and 45 call- 
ed by Mayor Calhoun to defend 
their homes, danger of a Fed- 
eral raid being pointed out. Cost 
of living mounts to unprece- 
dented figures. Tea is $12 a 
pound, coffee $3.50. meal $2.50 
a bushel, flour $45 a barrel, 
eggs $1 a dozen. Practically all 
industries now turned to man- 
ufacture of munitions of war. 
Date of city election changed to 
first Wednesday in December. 
J. M. Calhoun re-elected mayor. 
Small pox hospital ordered 
built. 

1863.— Small pox situation se- 
rious; compulsory vaccination 
ordered. First consignment of 
Federal prisoners reaches city. 
Large sums contributed by cit- 
izens for relief work among 
soldiers. General Howell Cobb 
appointed commander of State 
troops, with headquarters in 
Atlanta. April 17, Sale of whis- 
key at retail prohibited. July 
31, city police organized into 
military company. Oct. 16, 
Council appoints committee on 
entertainment of Jefferson Dav- 
is, who is to pass through city 
enroute to Richmond. Nov. 6, 
fire department gives ball for 
benefit of families of soldiers. 
Mayor Calhoun re-elected. 

1864.— Citizens subscribe $10,- 
000 toward equipping General 
Morgan's men. Feb. 5, news- 
papers announce that Federals 
are planning attack upon At- 
lanta. April 26, Tennessee Re- 
lief Association formed. Gene- 
ral S. R. Anderson, chairman; 
popular subscriptions amount 
to $24,000; committee appointed 
to go to front and aid in re- 
lief work among soldiers. May 
4, "Georgia Campaign," culmi- 



422 



ATLANTA 



Dating in capture of Atlanta, 
opens^ May, 9, all persons be- 
tween ages of 16 and 60 or- 
dered to appear at city hall to 
be armed and equipped. May 
17 troops organized tor iocai 
defense undergo inspection on 
Marietta street under direction 
of Marcus J. Wriglit. May 23, 
Mayor Calhoun issues procla- 
mation calling on all male cit- 
izens not in army to appear 
May 26 to be organized into 
companies for denfense of 
homes. May 27, sound of ene- 
my guns heard in Atlanta loi 
first time. Fighting preliminary 
to capture of Atlanta in prog- 
ress from day to day. June 10 
observed as day of fasting and 
prayer. June 22 to 27, terriffic 
fighting about Kennesaw Moun- 
tain. Press criticises Confed- 
erate Government for failure to 
provide adequate defense for 
Atlanta. July 15, Sherman s 
armv has crossed the Chatta- 
hoochee River; forming line 
near Peachtree Creek, July IV 
Major-General J. B. Hood 
placed in command of Confed- 
erate forces, succeeding General 
Johnston. (General Johnston re- 
instated Feb. 23, 1865). July 
18, Union spy escapes from At- 
lanta, carrying to General 
Sherman news of change in 
Confederate commanders. Con- 
certed movement against At- 
lanta begins; City placed under 
military government. July 20, 
Confederates make desperate 
charge against enemy center, 
and attack spreads to right 
center; forced to retire after 
gaining temporary advantag.es. 
First enemy shell fell in At- 
lanta on this date, killing child 
at intersection of Ivy and East 
Ellis streets. July 22, "Battle 
of Atlanta;" Confederates take 
initiative in terrific assault. 
Federals gain high ground 
northeast of city and rain of 
shells increase. General Mc- 
pherson and General W. H. T. 
Walker killed; Col. J. M. 
Brown, brother of Governor 
Brown, wounded fatally. Con- 
federates begin preparations 
for evacuation of city. July 23, 
truce declared for burial of 
dead. July 28, desperate fight- 
ing around Ezra Church. Shell- 
ing of city continuous, causing 



numerous fires and heavy loss 
of property. Aug. 5, Federals 
under General Schofield attack 
but are repulsed. Aug. 31, Fed- 
erals succeed in cutting Atlan- 
ta off from rest of world; bat- 
tle of Jonesboro fought; Sept. 
1, Confederates evacuate city, 
destroying immense quantity of 
stores. Outbreak of lawless- 
ness follows, stores being looted 
by uncontrolable mobs. Sept. 2, 
Mayor Calhoun and committee 
of citizens make formal surren- 
der of city to General Sherman. 
Federal troops enter at once. 
Sept. 4, General Sherman or- 
ders civil population to leave 
city. Exodus begins Sept. 12, 
protests from General Hood and 
Mayor Calhoun having no ef- 
fect. Nov. 10, Federals making 
preparations to evacuate city; 
bridge across Chattahoochee 
River burned and railroads 
torn up. Nov. 15, Sherman burns 
Atlanta and begins march to 
Sea. Confederates return and 
Atlanta is made headquarters 
for Fifth Military District. Dec. 
10, Daily Intelligencer resumes 
publication. Civil population be- 
gins to return. Dec. 25, first ser- 
mon after destruction of city 
preached by Rev. Henry Carr 
Hornady, pastor First Baptist 
church. Work of rehabilita- 
tion is getting under way. 

1865.— Mayor Calhoun contin- 
ued in office. Population in- 
creasing rapidly and many 
places of business being opened. 
Easter services held in churches 
May 4, official confirmation re- 
ceived of rumor that General 
Lee had surrendered to General 
Grant. On same day the At- 
lanta Military Post turned over 
to Col. B.. B. Eggleston, of 
United States Army. Col. Eg- 
gleston issues order prohibiting 
sale of intoxicating liquors to 
soldiers. Good order maintain- 
ed. May 11, Daily Intelligencer 
compliments Col. Eggleston for 
consideration shown in relief of 
needy. May 16, United States 
flag raised in front of Col. Eg- 
gleston' s headquarters; left at 
half mast because of death of 
President Lincoln. May 26. 
Mayor authorized to borrow 
$20,000 but was unable to ob- 
tain loan. June 20, Bond is- 



CHRONOLOGY 



423 



sue of $20,000, in denomina- 
tions of from 25 cents to ten 
dollars, authorized to pay ex- 
penses of operating city; bonds 
took the place of money to 
large extent. Beck & Gregg 
Hardware Co., founded by Tom- 
mey, Stewart & Orr. Governor 
Brown issues call for Legisla- 
ture to assemble May 22; is ar- 
rested by order of General Wil- 
son, Military Commander, to- 
gether with Alexander H. 
Stephens, General Howell Cobb 
and B. H. Hill; Military Com- 
mander forbids assembling of 
legislature. June 17, James 
Johnson, of Chambers, appoint- 
ed Provisional Governor by the 
President. June 29, Governor 
Brown, having been ~eleased 
from Washington pnson by 
order of President Johnson, but 
not being allowed to resume 
duties of office, tenders resig- 
nation. Oct. 25, State Conven- 
tion, called by Provisional Gov- 
ernor, assembles in Atlanta; 
ordinance of secession repealed, 
slavery abolished and news 
constitution adopted. Nov. 15. 
Judge Charles J. Jenkins, Dem- 
ocrat, elected Governor; Pres- 
ident Johnson approves election 
and removes Provisional Gov- 
ernor. Atlanta National Bank 
Organized. James E. Williams 
elected mayor. 

1866. — Jan. 5, Legislature 
elects Alexander H. Stephens 
and H. V. Johnson to United 
States Senate, but they were 
not seated. Jan. 18, Detachment 
of Fiftieth Illinois Regiment. 
on duty in Atlanta, mustered 
out. April 17, Members Thir- 
teenth Connecticut Regiment, 
mustered out; office of Pro- 
vost-Marshal abolished; sol- 
diers leaving for homes. April 
21, Gas works ready to resume 
operations. April 29, "Memorial 
Day" first observed. Two new 
hotels erected, with many 
places of business under way. 
Aug. 31, Class of 28 graduated 
at Atlanta Medical College. 
Proposition of George Hillyer 
for building street railroad ac- 
cepted and right of way grant- 
ed. Hebrew Benevolent Con- 
gregation organized. Atlanta 
Mining & Rolling Mill Company 
organized. Masonic Temple, 

left standing by Sherman, is 



destroyed by accidental fire. 
Concordia Society formed. 
Small pox epidemic and com- 
pulsory vaccination in force. 
Legislative act extending city 
limits a mile and a half in all 
directions from depot, is ap- 
proved at the polls. Pire de- 
partment a.sks for $1.3,300 to re- 
place equipment destroyed by 
Union army. First fire engine 
purchased. Twenty-two schools 
now in operation. Standing 
walls of burned buildings, left 
by Sherman, are ordered pulled 
down. Incendiary fires having 
been frequent, city offers $1,000 
reward for guilty persons. May- 
or Williams re-elected. 

1867. — City growing with ex- 
traordinary rapidity, population 
now approaching 20,000. New 
rolling mill and numerous 
other industries in operation. 
March 15, City buys $1,000 
worth of provisions and sends 
to Chattangoga for relief of 
flood victims. Agitation for 
water works system begi.ns. 
April 26, Council gives vote of 
thanks to . Rev. Henry Carr 
Hornady for relief work am^ng 
the destitute. Sunday School 
v.'hich developed into St. Paul's 
Methodist Church, organized. 
Mission which developed into 
Third Baptist Church, organ.iz- 
ed. Independent Order of Good 
Templers organized. Young 
Men's Library Association or- 
ganized, Henry Jackson, pres- 
ident. Ordinance adopted nam- 
ing and marking streets. At- 
lanta University opened. Dec. 
28, General Pope removed as 
military commander; succeeded 
by General George M. Meade. 
Mayor Williams re-elected. 

1868. — Agitation for removal 
of State Capitol to Atlanta re- 
newed; committee appointed to 
prosecute matter and site for 
State building offered; issue 
presented to Constitutional Con- 
vention, then in session in At- 
lanta. January 16, Atlanta Con- v' 
stitution launched, opening vig- 
orous fight for restoration of 
constitutional government. Jan- 
uary 18, General Meade re- 
moves Governor Jenkins and 
State Treasurer John Jones for 
refusing to issue warrant for 
$40,000 covering cost of state 



424 



ATLANTA 



convention; Thomas H. Ruger, 
Colonel of Thirty-third Infan- 
try. United States Army, made 
Governor; Capt. C. F. Rockwell, 
of Ordinance Corps, m&de 
Treasurer. Railroads donate 
train loads of wood to the poor 
of the city. Atlanta Bible So- 
ciety organized. Ladies Me- 
morial Association formed, Mrs. 
John B. Gordon, president. 
July 4, State of Georgia is re- 
stored to the Union. July 21, 
Governor Bullock takes oath of 
office. Aug. 17, City amends 
petition for removal of Capital, 
offering use of new opera house 
building to State. City sub- 
scribes $300,000 for stock in 
Georgia Western Railroad, tak- 
ing place of $250,000 previously 
subscribed. Atlanta Rubber 
Stamp & Stencil Works founded. 
Fire losses for year $61,540; 
need of water works system 
again urged. Dec. 2, William 
H. Hulsey elected mayor. 

1869.— City buys 42 acres as 
site for Fair of State Agricul- 
tural Association, paying $4,- 
733.12 for same. Work starts 
on Richmond & Danville Rail- 
road. Fund of $30,000 raised to 
bring Oglethorpe University to 
Atlanta; opened here on Oct. 4. 
School which developed into 
Clark University is started. 
Morehouse College moved from 
Augusta to Atlanta. Georgia 
Lodge No. -98, Masonic, orga- 
nized. E. Van Winkle & Co., 
start machine shop. John H. 
James residence, (Governor's 
Mansion), erected at a cost of 
$45,000. Church of Immaculate 
Conception erected at a cost 
of $80,000. Dec. 1, William Ez- 
zard elected Mayor. 

1870. — Legislature authorizes 
City of Atlanta to erect water 
works plant, two privately or- 
ganized movements having 
failed. The Kimball House, 
most magnificent structure in 
Atlanta, erected. DeGive Opera 
House, famous for years, erect- 
ed. Trinity Methodist Church 
erected. May 22, Simon W. 
Thornton, prominent politician, 
killed by train. Fulton Bag & 
Cotton Mills founded. Payne's 
Chapel, destroj'ed during war, 
rebuilt. Fijfth Baptist Church 



organized. Board of Education 
elected and first school census 
taken; children between ages of 
six and sixteen number 6,474. 
Board of Education authorized 
to buy two school sites. Sept. 
1, Historic Wesley Chapel be- 
comes First Methodist Church; 
corner stone of new building 
laid. Corner stone of new Ma- 
sonic Temple laid. Post O. M. 
Mitchell, Grand Army of the 
Republic, organized. Ex-Gover- 
nor Howell Cobb dies in New 
York. Dec. 7, D. F. Hammond 
elected Mayor. Population now 
21,789. 

1871.— R. E. Lee Fire Co., No. 
4, volunteers, organized. City 
receives 5 per cent dividend on 
gas stock; 230 public lights have 
been installed. Chamber of 
Commerce appoints committee 
to work for erection of post 
office. St. Paul's Methodist 
Church completed. Contract let 
for water works, bond issue 
of $440,000 authorized with 
which to pay for plant; litiga- 
tion arises and delays construc- 
tion of plant. Central Baptist 
Church organized; also the 
Fourth Baptist. Patrick Lynch, 
pioneer contractor, dies. Union 
Passenger Station erected. 
Building activity tremendo'us, 
four hundred structures going 
up during year. Oct. 23, Fac- 
ing storm of criticism and prob- 
able prosecution for misman- 
agement of State affairs, Gov- 
ernor Rufus B. Bullock resigns 
secretly and flees the state; 
warrant for his arrest issued 
shortly thereafter. Oct. 30, Ben- 
jamine Conley succeeds Bul- 
lock as Governor. Nov. 1, Leg- 
islature convenes with Demo- 
crats in control for first time 
since the war. Nov. 15, Ber- 
nard Mallon, formerly of Sa- 
vannah, begins labors as Su- 
perintendent of the Public 
Schools of Atlanta, being the 
first to hold this office. West 
End car line, first in city, put 
in operation. Dr. D. C. O'Keefe, 
known as "the father of the 
Atlanta public schools," dies in 
Gainesville. Dec. 6, John H. 
James elected mayor. 

1872.— Public school system 
opened formally, with city di- 
vided into three school dis- 



CHRONOLOGY 



425 



tricts; total registration of pu- 
pils 2,090, which is twice the 
estimate of the Board of Edu- 
cation. Jan. 12, Great rejoicing 
over the inauguration of Gov- 
ernor James M. Smith, whose 
entry into office marlts the end 
of "carpet-bag" rule. Marietta 
street car line put in opera- 
tion. Water Commission insti- 
tuted with J. M. Toy, C. L. 
Redwine and W. B. Cox as 
commissioners; are authorized 
to execute contract for erection 
of water works: contractors 
agree to accept city bonds in 
payment at 85 cents on the dol- 
lar. Peachtree car line put in 
operation in August. Asa G. 
Candler, destined to become 
South's wealthiest citizen, lo- 
cates in Atlanta, starting to 
work as clerk in a drug store. 
A wave of "spiritualism" 
sweeps city; Association of 
Spiritualists organized. Gate 
City Fire Company No. 5, or- 
ganized. Citizens Bank of Geor- 
gia organized, John T. Grant 
president. Merchants Bank of 
Atlanta organized. James M. 
Ball president. Dec. 4. D. C. 
Hammock elected mayor. 

1873.— Postmaster J. L. Dun- 
ning urges that all houses be 
numbered preparatory to in- 
stallation of free delivery sys- 
tem. May 30, contract for 
numbering houses let to W. S. 
Bradburry for $720. Bishop 
Gross, of Sq,vannah. and prom- 
inent local Catholics attempt to 
obtain a division of public 
school funds for benefit of 
Catholic schools, but principle 
is held to be unsound and pe- 
tition is denied by Board of 
Education. Markham Baptist 
Church and Oglethorpe Univer- 
sity buildings rented by city for 
school purposes. Contract ex- 
ecuted for installation of water 
works system, after much de- 
lay due to litigation etc. Dem- 
ocratic State Convention held in 
Atlanta nominating John B 
Gordon to United States Sen- 
ate. Three new school build- 
ings erected. Ivy Street, Crew 
Street and T\'alker Street. Syna- 
gogue erected at cost of $25,- 
«00 T. M. C. A. reorganized. 
Walter R. Brown, president. 
Merritt s Avenue Methodist 



church organized and building 
started. Atlanta Manufacturers 
Association organized, purpose 
being to make Atlanta great 
manufacturing center. Marietta 
street school built. Dec. 3, S. 
B. Spencer elected Mayor. 

1874. — Catholics petition 
school board to provide Cath- 
olic teachers in public schools 
for instruction of Catholic chil- 
dren, but petition is denied, 
statement being made that "the 
strength of the public school 
system is in the fact that it is 
carried on by all the citizens 
in common." Richmond & Dan- 
ville Railroad, now Southern, 
completed to Atlanta. Term 
of Mayor lengthened to two 
years. Peachtree car line ex- 
tended to Ponce de Leon 
Springs. Whitehall street car 
line put in operation. Bonded 
debt of city $1,923,900; floating 
debt $321,424.77. Third Presby- 
terian Church organized. C. C. 
Hammock elected Mayor Dec. 



1875. — Assets of city inven- 
tory $1,783,700. City paying 
enormous rate of interest, as 
high as IS per cent in some 
instances. Systematic effort 
made to reduce interest cliarges, 
with result that highest charges 
are reduced to 12 per cent. 
The Markham House, modern 
hotel, erected by Col. William 
Markham. Water works sys- 
tem completed and put in op- 
eration. German Lutheran 
Church organized. Oct. 21, 
James M. Calhoun, war-time 
mayor and distinguished pa- 
triot, dies. The Sunny South 
begins publication. Atlanta 
Savings Bank organized. S. B. 
Hoyt, president 

1876.— Year made notable by 
solution of vexing problem pre- 
sented by high interest rates. 
Finance Committee of Cit.v 
Council visits New York and 
succeeds in borrowing money 
at 7 per cent. Floating debt 
reduced $60,566.70. George W. 
Adair, E. E. Rawson and G. 
W. Terry elected on Water 
Board. Aaron Alexander, pio- 
neer druggist, dies. Joel Chand- 
ler Harris, author, selects At- 
lanta as his home. First Meth- 
odist Church erected at cost of 



426 



ATLANTA 



$70,000. Aug. 2. Democratic 
State Convention meets in At- 
lanta, nominating Alfred H. 
Colquitt for C,overnor. N. L. 
Angier elected mayor. 

1877.— I n t e n s e excitement 
over election upon removal of 
State Capital to Atlanta; vote 
results, for removal, 99,147; 
against removal, 55,291; ma- 
jority for removal, 43,946. Thus 
a crusade begun in 1854 is 
crowned with success. Legis- 
lature elects B. H. Hill to 
United States Senate. Catholic 
Library Association formed. 
Cost of schools, fire protection 
and police protection for year 
is $56,518; total cost of opera- 
ting city, exclusive of interest, 
$110,308.37; Interest charges for 
year amount to $168,780.37. 

1878.— President Rutherfgrd 
B. Hayes and wife visit Atlan- 
ta and are given elaborate re- 
ception. Assets of City now 
$1,573,800, including $300,000 of 
Georgia Western Railroad stock, 
$300,000 of Air Line Railroad 
stock, $96,200 of gas stock and 
mortgage on Opera House for 
$79,000. Assessed value of real 
and personal property in city 
now $17,996,530; tax rate $2.30 
on the $100 of assesed value. 
Jan. 14, Dr. J. A. Taylor, cit- 
izen of Atlanta since 1854, dies. 
Uniform Rank, Knights of 
Pythias organized. Telephone 
"system" installed, beginning 
with two 'phones. Dec. 4, Wil- 
liam L. Calhoun, son of James 
A. Calhoun, war-time mayor, is 
elected to the office so long held 
by his father. 

1879.— Bond issue of $385,000 
for payment of floating debts is 
authorized, making total bonded 
debt $2,201,500. New building 
erected by Southern Medical 
College. Gate City National 
Bank organized, succeeding At- 
lanta Savings Bank; L. M. Hill, 
president. Thirty patrolmen 
now employed, the monthly sal- 
ary being $54 each. Swift Spe- 
cific Company formed. Atlanta 
Cotton Mills organized. 

1880. — L. P. Grant succeeds 
G. W. Terry on Water Board. 
City divided into five grammar 
school districts; school attend- 
ance 3,828, with 300 holding 



tickets of admission for whom 
there is no room. Ex-Governor 
Joseph E. Brown appointed to 
the United States Senate by 
Governor Colquitt, succeeding 
Senator Gordon, resigned. Con- 
tract let for erection of Hous- 
ton Street School. Saints Peter 
and Paul Catholic Church or- 
ganized. March 28, Dr. Wil- 
liam H. White, an enthusiastic 
citizen who brought many ex- 
cursions to Atlanta from the 
West, dies in Iowa. Firm of 
Maddox & Co., formed. Build- 
ing of Young Men's Library As- 
sociation on Decatur street, 
dedicated. Henry W. Grady 
conducts successful campaign 
for re-election of Governor Col- 
quitt. James W. English elect- 
ed mayor, defeating H. I. Kim- 
ball by a vote of 1.433 to 1,- 
379. R. J. Lowry, candidate for 
Alderman-at-large, opposed by 
A. N. Watson^ a negro; latter 
received 93 votes, with 2,706 for 
Mr. Lowry. Population of city 
now 37,400. 

1881.— Electric fire alarm tel- 
egraph system installed. "Street 
lamplighter" elected at a salary 
of $1,700 a year. Organization 
formed for holding Internation- 
al Cotton Exposition in Atlan- 
ta, Senator Joseph E. Brown, 
president; resigned later to be 
succeeded by Gov. Alfred H. 
Colquitt. H. I. Kimball, pio- 
neer advocate of exposition, 
sells enough stock in company 
on tour of the North to in- 
sure its success, local citizens 
having subscribed liberally. Mr. 
Kimball made chief executive 
officer of exposition company. 
Exposition opens Oct. 5 with 
1,113 exhibits; daily average at- 
tendance 3,816; gross receipts 
$262,513; disbursements, $258,- 
475; closed Dec. 31, having 
been triumphant success. Gate 
City Street Railroad Company 
organized; built car line from 
Kimball House to Ponce de 
Leon Springs. "Street Con- 
science" develops, resulting in 
creation of Board of Commis- 
sioners of Streets and Sewers, 
consisting of John Berkele, M. 
E. Maher and W. H. Venable; 
era of paved streets begins. 
Atlanta Baptist Female Semi- 
nary, afterward Spelman Sem- 
inary, is started. Nov. 24, Wil- 



CHRONOLOGY 



427 



liam Rushton, pioneer railroad 
man, dies. 

1882. — Pronounced agitation 
for more and better parks: Col. 
L. P. Grant ofEers to donate 
100 acres for this purpose 
(property now known as Grant 
Park). City has ■^26 gas lamps 
and 51 oil lamps in lighting 
system. Metropolitan Street 
Railway Co., formed; line built 
on Pryor Street, with branch to 
Clark University. Southern Ag- 
ricultural Works, Atlanta Cot- 
ton Seed Oil Mills, and Exposi- 
tion Cotton Mills, are organized. 
West End and Whitehall street 
car lines connected, tunnel pro- 
vided to avoid railroad crossing 
at Peters Street. Southern Med- 
ical College decides to open 
hospital; acquires and uses old 
Central Hotel on Ivy for this 
purpose. July 1 made "red let- 
ter day" by introduction of 
paid fire department and relief 
of volunteers who had protected 
the city since its founding. 
Matt Ryan first fire chief, with 
thirty-seven men under him; 
three steamers, four hose reels, 
one hook and ladder, fifteen 
horses and 4,000 feet of hose. 
Volunteer companies paid $12.- 
100 by city for their equipment. 
First paving done by city; 
granite blocks being placed on 
Alabama Street and macadam 
on Peachtree and Whitehall. 
Dec. 6, John B. Goodwin elec- 
ted Mayor over E. J. Roach, 
vote 1,247 and 881, respectively. 
State Democratic Convention, 
meeting in Atlanta, abolishes 
two-thirds rule; nominates 
Stephens for Governor, to 
which office re was elected 

1883. — Atlanta Journal ap- 
pears. Capital City Club orga- 
nized. Unitarians organize 
"Church of Our Father." Fourth 
Presbyterian Church organized. 
Capital City Bank organized, 
Jacob Elsas, President, J. W. 
English, Vice-President. Oct. 
12, Atlanta's most magnificent 
hotel, the Kimball House, is 
destroyed by fire, (rebuilt at 
cost of $650,000.) Georgia Col- 
lege of Electric Medicine and 
Surgery (founded in 1839), re- 
moved from Macon to Atlanta. 
Sixth "Ward established. St. 
Luke's Episcopal Church be- 



gins erection of new building. 
Grace M. E. Church founde'l. 
Extensive improvements made 
at Grant Park, formal transfer 
of which has been made to 
city by Col. L. P. Grant. Gam- 
mon School of Theology es- 
tablished. "V\"est End & Atlanta 
Street Railway Company orga- 
nized. 

1S84. — City attempts to solve 
problem of inadequate water 
supply by drilling artesian well 
at intersection of "^'hitehall 
and Peachtree; Streets, going 
to depth of 2,044 feet; drink- 
ing fountains placed on down- 
town corners upon completion 
of well. Berean Congregational 
Church organized. Calhoun 
Street School, termed "finest 
in the South." is erected. Rec- 
ord is established for amount of 
paving done, the total reaching 
$142,650. Mendelssohn Society 
organized. George Hillyer and 
Reuben Arnold candidates for 
Mayor; Hillyer wins, 2,137 to 
947. 

1885. — Mavor Hillyer nego- 
tiates sale of $52,000 of city 
bonds at five per cent, the 
lowest rate on record. Legis- 
lature passes act under which 
Georgia Tech is founded. In- 
ternational Convention of 
Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tions held in Atlanta, followed 
bv public subscription of $75,- 
000 for erection of T. M. C. A. 
building. Railroad branch of Y. 
M. C. A. founded. Aug. 23, 
Dr. Joseph Thompson, pioneer 
hotel man and president of At- 
lanta Medical College, dies. At- 
lanta Musical Association form- 
ed. R. O. Campbell Coal Co., 
organized. .Electric light sys- 
tem inaugurated, city having 
22 street lamps. Marietta street 
Methodist _Church starts in 
form of mission at Ponders and 
Marietta streets. Seven schools 
now in operation for white chil- 
dren with three for colored. Ivy 
Street School built. J. R. Joy- 
ner elected Chief of Fire De- 
partment. Dec. 11, E. W. Hol- 
land, pioneer banker dies. Tel- 
ephones have increased in num- 
ber to 450. 

1886.— Citv has surplus of 
$183,833.22 in treasury by end 



428 



ATLANTA 



of year and credit is on high 
plane, as shown by sale of 
1116,000 of bonds on 41/2 per 
cent basis. Statistical report 
shows capital invested in man- 
ufacturing enterprises is $6,- 
500.000; there are 303 enterprises 
employing 6,674 hands, with 
annual pay roll of $2,425,000; 
value of manufactured products 
$10,221,000. Percentage of mor- 
tality, whites 10.10; colored, 
23.71. Cost of operating police 
department for year $49,273.91. 
Board of Commissioners of 
Streets and Sewers abolished 
and duties vested in Commis- 
sioner of Public Works. Dunn 
Machinery Co., founded. After 
sharp competition, Atlanta wins 
in contest for Technological 
School, citizens donating $130,- 
000 and site. Atlanta Banking 
Company organized. Central 
Christian Church organized. 
Dec. 1, J. T. Cooper elected 
Mayor. 

1887.— Matter of providing 
adequate sewers receiving much 
attention; one and one half 
miles new sewers laid, making 
total of about 20 miles. West 
End Presbyterian Church or- 
ganized. Neal Loan & Banking 
Company organized. Gate City 
National Bank erects building. 
Atlanta Bridge & Axle Com- 
pany organized. Work begins on 
building of Georgia "Tech," 
main building and machinery 
building being under way. Pied- 
mont Exposition Company or- 
ganized, C. A. Collier, presi- 
dent. Exposition opened Oct. 
11 with addresses by Governor 
John B. Gordon and Hon. Sam- 
uel Randall, of Pennsylvania. 
President Cleveland guest of 
association Oct. 22nd, visit be- 
ing occasion of great popular 
demonstration. Estimated at- 
tendance upon exposition, 200,- 
000. 

1888.— Jan. 16, Atlanta Phil- 
osophical Association orga- 
nized; text book fqr period, 
"Spencer's First Principles." 
Manufacturers Association re- 
organized, E. P. Howell, pres- 
ident. Car line built from Ma- 
rietta to Peachtree, passing 
Technological School. Hebrew 
Orphan's Asylum building 

erected. Fulton County Con- 



federate Veterans Association 
formed. Richmond Terminal 
Company buys Georgia Central 
road for $12,000,0000. Large 
influx of yellow fever refugees, 
(August.) City appropriates 
$5,000 for sanitary improve- 
ments, but quarantine is not 
imposed because of well-known 
immunity of city from this di- 
sease. Sept. 4, Thomas W. 
Ripley, who opened a store in 
Atlanta in 1849, dies. 

1889. — Atlanta observes total 
eclipse of sun. Jan. 8, John T. 
Glenn becomes Mayor. Feb. 4, 
papers "spread" story of Dick 
Hawes, Atlanta man, who is 
arrested while on honeymoon 
for murder of wife and two 
children in Birmingham. Feb. 6, 
Richard Peters, pioneer railroad 
developer and prominent and 
highly esteemed citizen, dies. 
Feb. 10, Constitution prints pic- 
ture of new Capitol building, 
which has just been completed. 
March 25, Hebrew Orphans' 
Home dedicated; Joseph Hirsch 
chairman building committee. 
March 29, Judge Thomas Spen- 
cer, distinguished pioneer, dies. 
April 13, Subscription taken 
for Georgia Veterans' Home. 
April 18, Dr. Joshua Gilbert, 
pioneer physician, dies at ad- 
vanced age. April 21, New 
"dummy" line projected. May 
9, site for home of Confederate 
veterans selected. May 14, At- 
lanta holds first "Carnival of 
Flowers." June 7, fatal acci- 
dent befalls J. M. Nace, citi- 
zen of Atlanta since 1858. June 
7, Grand Jury urges pressing 
need of new jail. June 16, At- 
lanta visited by Loula Porter, 
a native daughter, who has 
won fame on the stage. Agnes 
Scott College founded. June 22, 
Southern Trust Co., begins bus- 
iness. Oct. 8. Piedmont Expo- 
sition formally opened with 
Governor David Bennett Hill, 
of New York, a guest. Georgia 
Female College opens. Oct. 9, 
name of Means High School 
changed to Gordon High, in 
honor of John B. Gordon. Nov. 
19, H. K. Hunter, of New York 
buys street railways. Dec, 
Henry W. Grady elected first 
president of Jefferson Davis 
Memorial Association. Dec. 21, 
Atlanta Reform School opens. 



CHRONOLOGY 



429 



Dec. 23, City shocked by death 
of Henry Grady, following 
swiftly upon his return from 
speaking tour. Dec. 25, Henry 
Grady buried; movement for 
Grady monument begins. 

1890.— Jan. 21, Judge J. W. 
Calhoun elected president of 
Confederate Soldiers Home, 
succeeding Henry Grady. Feb. 
9, Atlanta Chess Club formed. 
April 1, forerunner of "zoo" 
seen when children start move- 
ment to buy an elephant. 
March 3, Dick Hawes, exe- 
cuted in Birmingham for mur- 
der of wife and children, buried 
in Atlanta. March 24, Mrs. Ben- 
jamine Harrison, wife of the 
President, visits Atlanta. April 
3, Women's Press Club orga- 
nized, Mrs. E. S. Byngton, 
president; Mrs. Lollie Belle Wy- 
lie, secretary. April 24, David 
Mayer, treasurer Board of Edu- 
cation, dies. April 29, Major 
J. S. Lewis, distinguished sol- 
dier, dies. May 29, John R. 
Gramlin, distinguished citizen, 
dies. June 15, Georgia Tech 
holds first commencement. June 
27, Dr. Willis Westmoreland, fa- 
mous surgeon, dies. June 30, 
Dr. W. D. Bissell, prominent 
physician, dies. July 16, phy- 
sicians petition Legislature to 
create State Board of Health. 
Aug. 10, Children happy over 
arrival of elephant; they change 
its name from "Nemo" to 
"Clio". Sept. 11, Dr. E. J. 
Roach, pioneer physician, dies. 
Sept. 22, Thomas G. Crusselle, 
said to be oldest citizen of At- 
lanta and builder of first frame 
dwelling, dies. Nov. 9, First 
Inaugural takes place in new 
Capitol, Governor Gordon deli- 
vering seal of state to Gov- 
ernor W. J. Northern. Nov. 9, 
Col. William Markham, a res- 
ident since 1853 and builder of 
88 stores and other buildings 
in Atlanta between that date 
and the opening of the Civil 
War; also one of the founders 
of the first rolling mill, and for- 
mer Mayor of city, dies. Nov. 
23, Rev. John Watrous Beck- 
with, D. D.. Bishop of Georgia, 
dies. Nov. W. A. Hemphill 
elected Mayor. Dec. 16, Judge 
Cicero C. Hammock, twice 
mayor and pioneer citizen, dies. 
Dec. 23, cornerstone of Grady 



Hospital laid with impressive 
ceremonies. Population of city 
estimated at 65,000. Telephones 
now number 980. City has two 
electric lines, the Edgewood 
Avenue and Fulton County 
lines. 

1891. — New postoffice. (present 
City Hall), nearing completion. 
Jan. 18, era of unprecedented 
building activity is under way; 
bridging of Forsyth Street con- 
tributing factor. Capt. J. W. 
English to put $200,000 in build- 
ing on Forsyth, and S. M. In- 
man announces plans for $100,- 
000 structure in same vicinity. 
Feb. 3, Genjeral Robert J. Hen- 
derson, old and distinguished 
citizen, dies. Feb. 4, Wellborn 
Mitchell, Atlanta's first recor- 
der, dies; had resided in At- 
lanta since 1845. Feb 7, Jay 
Gould and party visit Atlanta 
and are elaborately entertained; 
visit followed by inauguration 
of through vestibule trains be- 
tween Atlanta and New York. 
March 16, Decision reached to 
place Grady monument on 
Marietta Street. April 2, Hen- 
ry M. Stanley, "greatest living 
explorer," visits Atlanta. April 
3, E. C. Allen, well known gro- 
cer, attacked by wolf within 
sight of street lights of At- 
lanta. April 8, Dr. J. M. Soar- 
ing, one of Atlanta's most 
prominent physicians, dies. 
April 11, "Metropolitan Dum- 
my" makes its first trip from 
Atlanta to Decatur. April 15, 
Benjamine Harrison, President 
of the United States, is enter- 
tained in Atlanta. April 21, 
Mrs. William Lawson Peel en- 
tertains in honor of Miss Clare 
de Graffenreid, who is taking 
leading part in movement to 
have the State establish a 
Girl's Industrial School. June 
6, Bishop Gailor declines Bish- 
opric of Georgia. June 7. J. P. 
Gullatt, pioneer citizen, dies. 
June 24, Charles M. Osburn 
goes on trial for murder of 
James M. Bradley; most sen- 
sational case in history of 
city. June 25, Cornerstone of 
"Equitable" building, pioneer 
"skyscraper," is laid; building, 
(now the Trust Company of 
Georgia), eight stories in 
height. July 9, First East Ten- 
nessee train enters city. July 



430 



ATLANTA 



13, Atlanta becomes general 
headquarters of West Point 
Terminal Company, which 
leases four floors in new Kiser 
building. July 22, James O. 
Harris, citizen of Atlanta for 
28 years, dies. Charles M. Os- 
burn hanged for murder of 
James M. Bradley. Aug. 27, 
Veterans' Home Bill defeated 
in Legislature, causing great 
indignation; Legislature hur- 
ries through pension bill to 
placate public. Sept. 7, work 
on foundation of Grady mon- 
ument begins. Sept. 19, Elec- 
tric line to Piedmont Park un- 
der consideration. Sept. 18, J. 
C. Kimball, pioneer, dies. Sept. 
21, James High & Company 
open new home on Whitehall 
and Hunter Streets. Sept. 27, 
Sam Jones, great Georgia evan- 
gelist comes to Atlanta, pre- 
ceded a short time by Sam 
Small, evangelist, who again 
makes Atlanta his home and 
starts movement for non-de- 
nominational tabernacle. Oct. 
1, the Edgewood Avenue thea- 
ter, second in Atlanta, opened 
to public. Oct. 5, first session 
of Law School held. Oct. 7, 
cornerstone of Second Baptist 
Church laid. Oct. 21, Grady 
monument unveiled with elab- 
orate ceremonies. Nov. 3, new 
train, "Dixie Flyer," inaug- 
urated, Nashville, Atlanta, St. 
Augustine. Nov. 12, formal ded- 
ication of Agnes Scott as Pres- 
byterian College. Nov. 19, Mrs. 
Jefferson Davis and daughter, 
Winnie Davis, visit Atlanta: 
Rev. Cleland Nelson accepts 
Bishopric of Georgia. Boys 
Club organized under leadership 
of Mrs. E. M. Brittain. Dec. 
16, City bonds in sum of $7.50,- 
000 sold in New York, carry- 
ing 4^2 per cent interest; New 
fire headquarters being built. 
Dec. 24, Ground broken for new 
telephone building. Highland 
Avenue bridge erected. Atlan- 
ta Consolidated Street Railway 
Company formed. 

1S92. — Property owners on 
Peachtree Street petition for as- 
phalt pavement. Jan. 14, re- 
ceivership asked for Atlanta & 
Florida Railroad; Strike of all 
express messengers on roads 
entering Atlanta. Jan. 14, con- 
tract awarded for new "Sta- 



tion House." Jan. 17, Ex-Pres- 
ident Cleveland passes through 
city on hunting trip. Jan 21, 
Metropolitan Street Railway 
goes into hands of receiver; 
Work to start on new water 
works system. Feb. 2, Grover 
Cleveland in city returning from 
hunting trip. Feb. 4, Thomas 
Nelson Page visits city as 
guest of Young Men's Library 
Association. Feb. 24, movement 
for Federal prison in Atlanta 
gets under way. Feb. 27, John 
D. Rockefeller gives $40,000 for 
school for practical training to 
be founded at Selman Semi- 
nary. Feb. 27, announcement 
made that work is to begin on 
Georgia Military Institute and 
Southern Female College at 
Atlanta's new suburb, "Man- 
chester." March 1, New Cy- 
clorama, "Battle of Atlanta," 
displayed and captivates the 
public. March 23, Mrs. T. J. 
Jackson, widow of General 
Stonewall Jackson, guest of 
Atlanta. April 21, Machine shop 
of Georgia "Tech" destroyed 
by fire. April 24, first passen- 
ger train over Georgia, Caro- 
lina & Northern, arrives. May 
25, Grady Hospital formally 
dedicated. May 27, cornerstone 
of Home for the Friendless 
laid; work of Atlanta's noble 
women. June 25, Turner Gold- 
smith, old and highly respected 
citizen, dies, having lived near- 
ly a century. Sept. 20, S. M. 
Inman gives his former home, 
a handsome residence of For- 
syth Street to helpless chil- 
dren of Atlanta; to be known 
as "Jennie D. Inman Orphan- 
age." Nov. 14. John B. Good- 
win elected mayor. Nov. 15, 
Mrs. Grover Cleveland invited 
to become member Atlanta 
Chapter U. D. C. Nov. 23, 
City experiences meteoric show- 
er. Dec. 2. free mail delivery 
begins at ^^est End. Dec. 21, 
Vice-President-Elect Stevenson 
is guest of Atlanta. Highland 
Avenue bridge erected. Street 
car line to river put in opera- 
tion. 

1893.— New Forsyth Street 
bridge completed. Jan. 11, Col. 
L. P. Grant, one of Atlanta's 
most distinguished citizens and 
benefactors, dies; donor of 
Grant Park. Feb. 10, Grand 



CHRONOLOGY 



431 



Theatre formally opened; erect- 
ed by Li. De Give, owner of 
Atlanta's first theatre. March 
17, Capt. Hay, night watch- 
man at West View Cemetery, 
attacked by -lion. March 30, Dr. 
Henry Carr Hornady, pioneer 
minister and greatly beloved 
citizen, dies at Montazuma; 
pastor of First Baptist church 
1861-1867. and preached first 
sermon delivered in Atlanta af- 
ter destruction of city by Sher- 
man, Dec. 25, 1864. April 10, 
Edward B. Rawson, pioneer 
merchant, who had served city 
in many capacities, dies; was 
one of committee which pro- 
tested to General Sherman 
against order for civil popu- 
lation to vacate city. May 1, 
Stovall, Galloway & Co., open 
first wholesale hat house. May 
29, Atlanta pays tribute to 
Jefferson Davis as remains 
pass through city enroute to 
Richmond for interment. July 
22, new Forsyth Street bridge 
opened with elaborate ceremo- 
nies. July 25j water from Chat- 
tahoochee River finally brought 
to Atlanta, marking completion 
of great project. Oct. 8, New 
building of First Baptist Church 
formally opened. Nov. 9, 

World's Convention of Chris- 
tian Workers held in Atlanta. 
Nov. 16, Major J. J. Toon, 
pioneer publisher, dies. Nov. 20, 
West End annexed to Atlanta. 

1894.— Feb. 10, Atlanta news- 
paper men organize Press Club 
with Clark Howell as president. 
April 26, marble monument, 
"Lion of Atlanta," unveiled at 
Oakland Cemetery with elabo- 
rate ceremonies, the beautiful 
memorial being dedicated to 
"The Unknown Dead" of the 
Confederacy; Hon. H. H. Carl- 
ton, orator of the day; cere- 
monies preceded by elaborate 
procession, stores being closed 
in honor of occasion. May 1-3, 
International League of Press 
Clubs holds convention in At- 
lanta; entertained by local 
Press Club. Empire Printing 
& Bo-x Co., founded. June 6. 
Col. Robert F. Maddox, pioneer 
business man, banker, out- 
standing figure in development 
of Atlanta, and greatly beloved 
citizen, dies. Nov. 21. work be- 
gins on Forestry Building of 



Piedmont Exposition. Nov. 30, 
ex-Governor, ex-Supreme Court 
Justice and ex-Senator Joseph 
E. Brown dies at his home on 
Washington street; was Gover- 
nor during war period and was 
appointed to Senate by Gover- 
nor Colquitt in 1894. Dec. 
1, corner stone of new Boy's 
High School laid. 

1895. — Jan. 27, Judge John 
Erskine, wno located in Atlan- 
ta in 1855, and served for nine- 
teen years on Federal bench, 
dies. Jan. 31, twenty-seventh 
annual convention of National 
American Woman's Suffrage 
Association, opens in cit5^ with 
Susan B. Anthony and other 
distinguished leaders present. 
April 3, Jack Wallace, reputed 
at one time to be largest prop- 
erty owner in Atlanta, dies in 
Texas. April 22, cornerstone 
laid for Woman's Building at 
Exposition. April 26, Mrs. John 
Milledge, president of Memorial 
Association, dies on day she 
loved — Memorial Day. April 28, 
H. I. Kimball, pioneer develop- 
er, dies in Boston. April 29, 
New Lyceum Theater opened. 
April 30, Mrs. Elhs succeeds 
Mrs. Milledge as president of 
Memorial Association. May 3, 
Major Campbell Wallace, known 
as "'Georgia's Grand Old man," 
dies at his home on Capitol 
Place. May 11, Samuel Gom- 
pers, of the American Federa- 
tion of Labor, visits Atlanta. 
May 26. Miss Winnie Davis. 
"Daughter of the Confederacy," 
is guest of Atlanta. May 29, 
T\^ashington corrspondents 
meet in Atlanta. June 2, Da- 
vid J. Wyiie, Sr., old and 
honored citizen, dies at age of 
90. June 16, Governor W. Y. 
Atkinson stricken with appen- 
dicites and undergoes opera- 
tion. June 22, Southern buys 
Atlanta & Florida Road. Aug. 
9, Broad Street bridge com- 
pleted. Aug. 16, corner stone of 
Sixth Baptist Church laid. Sept. 
18, Cotton States and Internat- 
ional Exposition formally 
opened, 25,000 people present. 
Sept. 21, veteians of Confede- 
rate Army and Grand Army of 
the Republic unite in celebrat- 
ing day at exposition. Oct. 8, 
the "Liberty Bell" arrives from 
Philadelphia and is placed on 



432 



ATLANTA 



display at Exposition. Oct. 15, 
American Bankers Association 
meets in Atlanta. Oct. 22. Pres- 
ident Cleveland, Vice-President 
Stevenson and members of Cab- 
inet, guests of Atlanta. Oct. 27, 
"Buffalo Bill" adds his show to 
Exposition attractions. Oct. 31, 
Exposition closes. William G. 
Richards, superintendent of 
water works in early days, 
dies. Thomas Wilson McArthor, 
pioneer citizen, dies. 

1896_Feb. 3. Shadrack Inman, 
old and honored citizen, dies. 
Feb. 8, Thomas Haverty, pio- 
neer, dies. Feb. 11, Dr. William 
Simpson Armstrong, prominent 
physician, dies while preparing 
to call to order a meeting of 
physicians' staff at Grady Hos- 
pital. Feb. 13, Eugene V. Debs 
visits Atlanta and delivers ad- 
dress. March 5, Socratese Ivy, 
first male child born in Atlan- 
ta, dies. March 6, Dr. Nathan 
O. Harris, prominent physician, 
dies. May 17, most destruc- 
tive fire in history of city up 
to this time; one person killed 
and three injured; 30 homes 
and places of business destroy- 
ed with loss of $300,000; prop- 
erty known as Markham House 
block. May 25, George S. 
Thomas, distinguished Confed- 
erate veteran, dies. May 31, 
Dr. H. V. M. Miller, eminent 
surgeon, former United States 
Senator, and distinguished vet- 
eran of the Confederacy, dies. 
June 2, Erastus F. Gould, 
prominent business man and 
owner of Gould building on De- 
catur Street, dies. Oct. 23, 
Judge Charles Frederick Crisp, 
Speaker of the Fifty-first and 
Fifty-second Congress, and dis- 
tinguished Georgian, dies in At- 
lanta, being buried at his home 
in Americus. Dec. 23, William 
Jennings Bryan, recently de- 
feated for President, is a vis- 
itor to Atlanta. Dec. 29, Prince 
and Princess Khevenhullar- 
Metch, of Austria, pass through 
city on tour of world. 

1897. — January 17, professor 
W. W. Lumpkin, widely known 
educator and religious worker, 
dies. Jan. 18, new freight de- 
pot of Western & Atlantic and 
Seaboard Air Line, ready for 
occupancy; cost $100,000. Jan. 



21, J. H. Porter, banker and 
philanthropist, dies. Feb. 12, 
Prof. Joseph E. Willet, eminent 
Baptist educator, dies. Feb. 13, 
Major Sidney Root, pioneer cit- 
izen and public benefactor, dies; 
Col. E. N. Broyles, distinguish- 
ed lawyer, dies. March 2, John 
Silvey, millionaire dry goods 
merchant and venerable citizen, 
dies; Col. Cornelius R. Han- 
leiter, pioneer newspaper man, 
dies. April 27, Dr. J. S. Hol- 
liday, veteran physician and 
pioneer citizen, dies. May 3, 
City of Atlanta purchases 
courthouse for use as City Hall. 
Aug. 6, Jacobs opens second in 
chain of drug stores. Sept. 9, 
Col. L W. Avery, pioneer news- 
paper man, historian and law- 
yer, dies from injuries received 
in a fall. First electrically 
heated street cars appear. Oct. 
16, City limits extended to take 
in Pittsburg, Reynoldstown, 
Bellwood and North Atlanta. 
Oct. 26, Thomas J. Healey, 
wealthy pioneer, dies. Oct. 31, 
fire at plant of Georgia Cotton 
Oil Company does damage 
amounting to $117,000. Nov. 1, 
Atlanta City Council adopts or- 
dinance prohibiting the playing 
of football in the city limits. 
Nov. 5, Col. Charles Z. Blalock, 
prominent lawyer, dies. Nov. 22, 
John Ryan, Sr., pioneer dry 
goods merchant who located in 
Atlanta in 1852, dies. 

1898.— Jan. 9, Semi-centennial 
celebrated by First Presbyte- 
rian church. Jan. 22, Dr. Wil- 
liam A. Love, veteran physi- 
cian and distinguished Mason, 
dies. Jan. 23, work begins on 
$100,000 plant of Atlanta Mill- 
ing Company. March 4, Mile 
Anna Held sings in Atlanta. 
March 12, City accepts Cyclo- 
rama, "Battle of Atlanta," as 
gift from S. V. Grees; Secre- 
tary of War issues order creat- 
ing new military depot in Atlan- 
ta, which was made headquar- 
ters for Department of the 
Gulf on opening of Spanish- 
American War. March 13, W. 
J. Bryan in city. March 22, 
Semi-centennial of First Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church of At- 
lanta celebrated. March 28, 
Judge John S. Bigby, distin- 
guished citizen and ex-member 
of Congress, dies. April 4, Col. 



CHRONOLOGY 



433 



Thomas W. Latham, prominent 
lawyer, dies. April 18, James 
Whitcomb Riley in city. April 
17, New Inman Park Methodist 
church dedicated. May 4, 1898, 
Fort McPherson made prison 
for Spanish soldiers; fifteen 
officers and privates arrive, 
first captives among Spanish. 
May 13, Col. Theodore Roose- 
velt in Atlanta on way to Texas 
to aid General Wood in com- 
mand of cow-boy brigade. May 
21, Second Regiment of United 
States Volunteers, made up of 
Atlanta men, leaves for the 
front. June 18, Mrs. Clark 
Howell, one of Atlanta's most 
beloved women, dies. June 21, 
Col. W. C. Glenn, distinguished 
lawyer and brilliant orator, 
dies. June 22, Prof. A. N. Wil- 
son, prominent educator, dies. 
July 8, another force of Atlan- 
ta soldiers leave for front; un- 
der Col. John Candler. July 18, 
widow of General George E. 
Pickett, hero of Gettysburg, 
visits city. July 20, Confed- 
erate Reunion bringing many 
distinguished visitors, including 
General Longstreet; attendance 
for week estimated at 65,000. 
July 28, Major John A. Fitten, 
dies. Aug. 1, Lieutenant Rich- 
mond Pearson Hobson, hero of 
the Merrimac, visits mother in 
Atlanta. Sept. 11, West End 
Baptist church dedicated. Sept. 
20, Dr. E. H. Bennett, beloved 
pastor of First Presbyterian 
church, dies. Sept. 22, Second 
Georgia Volunteer Infantry, U. 
S. A. returns to city. Sept. 24, 
Secretary of War Alger in At- 
lanta to inspect Ft. McPherson. 
Oct. 5, James G. Woodward 
elected Mayor. Oct. 20, Judge 
Marshall J. Clarke, distinguish- 
ed jurist, dies. Oct. 24, Mrs. 
Sarah Carlisle, widow of Willis 
Carlisle, and mother of first 
child born in Atlanta, dies. Dec. 
9, Dr. Harry Huzza, prominent 
physician, dies in New York fol- 
lowing operation. Dec. 14-15, 
City holds Peace Jubilee, Pres- 
ident McKinley in attendance, 
as is Capt. R. P. Hobson, Gen. 
Joe Wheeler, Secretary Gage 
and others. Dec. 18, Jonathan 
Norcross, who built first saw 
mill in Atlanta and for many 
years was prominent business 
man, dies. 



1899.— Jan. 2, Mayor Charles 
A. Collier succeeded by James 
G. Woodward. Jan. 6, E. P. 
Chamberlain, pioneer dry goods 
merchant and honored citizen, 
dies. Jan. 9, Mrs. E. C. Peeples, 
noted church worker, dies. Feb. 
2, Capt. John Milledge, veteran 
soldier and distinguished citi- 
zen, dies. Feb. 4, Atlanta Mill- 
ing Co., opens new plant, ca- 
pacity $2,500,000 worth of flour 
per year. March 5, Baptist 
Tabernacle dedicated. March 
14, Judge John D. Berry, prom- 
inent Atlantan, dies at New- 
nan; John Thomas Glenn, dis- 
tinguished lawyer, dies. March 

21, Dr. K. C. Divine, prominent 
physician, dies. April 2, First 
Christian Science Church es- 
tablished in the South, dedi- 
cated in Atlanta. April 4, 
David A. Beatie, leading citi- 
zen, dies. April 8, ground 
broken for new Pratt Labora- 
tory. April 10, Formal opening 
of club house of Atlanta Ath- 
letic Club. April 18, United 
States Attorney General J. W. 
Griggs in city to inspect site of 
proposed Federal prison. April 
20, Col. N. J. Hammond, for- 
mer Congressman and noted 
Georgian, dies. April 20, work 
of widening and improving 
Whitehall street begins. April 

22, Dr. B. F. Walker, County 
Commissioner and prominent 
Atlantan, dies. May 2, Dr. W. 
J. Scott, pioneer citizen and 
distinguished Methodist minis- 
ter, dies. May 16, James Lynch, 
pioneer citizen and wealthy 
property owner, dies. June 6, 
R. F. Maddox, veteran banker 
and distinguished citizen, dies. 
June 7, Gen. W. S. Walker, 
veteran of Mexican and Civil 
wars, dies. June 22, Rev. T. T. 
Christian, venerable minister, 
dies. July 4, William Jennings 
Bryan guest at banquet. July 
13, Major John C. Courtney 
dies. July 15, William T. Wall, 
prominent business man, dies. 
Sept. 8, Robert Winship, pio- 
neer manufacturer, dies. Sept. 

23, Library Board decides upon 
location of new Carnegie Li- 
brary. Sept. 29, George W. 
Adair, pioneer citizen and real 
estate man, dies. Oct. 12, 
first installment, $5,000, of Car- 
negie's gift of $150,000 for li- 



434 



ATLANTA 



brary, received. Oct. 18, Geor- 
gia State Fair opens with huge 
crowd in attendance. Oct. 24, 
Lieutenant Tom Brumby, Geor- 
gia hero of Battle of Manila 
Bay, returns to Atlanta and is 
given great ovation; is pre- 
sented with handsome sword by 
people of Georgia; died in 
Washington less than two 
months later, Dec. 17; buried 
in Atlanta. Nov. 3, Harvey T. 
Phillips, prominent business 
man, dies. Nov. 4, Rear Ad- 
miral Winfield Scott Schley, 
guest of city and is presented 
with loving cup by citizens. 
Nov. 11, work begins on White- 
hall street bridge. Nov. 23, Dr. 
Benjamin H. Catchings dies. 

1900.— Bust of Andrew Car- 
negie presented to library by 
Mrs. William L. Peel. Jan. 12, 
Col. J. W. Rucker, leading ban- 
ker, dies at Palm Beach, Fla. 
Jan. 14, Capitol Avenue Bap- 
tist Church dedicated. Feb. 14, 
Major Austin Leyden, pioneer 
citizen, dies. Feb. 15, Dr. 
John Glenn Gibson, prominent 
Baptist minister, dies. Feb. 19, 
Dr. Shaler Granby Hillyer, dis- 
tinguished minister of Baptist 
Church, dies. Feb. 22, Pad- 
erewski in Atlanta. March 2, 
T. Jefferson Coolidge, Jr., of 
Boston, in city and announces 
plans for 14-story office build- 
ing. Broad and Marietta 
Streets. March 11, John H. 
Martin, pioneer editor, dies. 
March 12, property at Court- 
land Avenue and Decatur Street 
bought by A. B. Steel for erec- 
tion of office building. March 
29, W. C. Sanders, capitalist, 
dies. April 4, William B. Dowe, 
financier, dies. April 9, Dr. 
Julian A. Hutchison, pioneer 
druggist, dies; James E. Wil- 
liams, former mayor and pres- 
ident Pioneer Citizen's Society, 
dies. April 14, Clarence 
Knowles, distinguished Atlan- 
tan, dies in Pensacola, Fla. 
April 24, J. H. Moorefield, 
journalist, dies. May 7, fire de- 
stroys 34 houses and furniture 
factory in vicinity of Marietta 
street and Ponders avenue; loss 
$130,000. May 22, corner stone 
of North Avenue Presbyterian 
church laid. June 6, Jay D. 
Edwards, distingxiished Mason, 
dies. June 23, Dr. W. B. Stead- 



ley, prominent Methodist min- 
ister, dies. July 13, Major Wil- 
liam J. Whidley, lawyer and 
journalist, dies. July 19-21, 
Reunion of Confederate vete- 
rans who participated in the 
Battle of Atlanta. Aug. 27, W. 
L. Calhoun elected president 
Pioneer Citizen's Society. Sept. 
2, Col. Pryor L. Mynatt, sol- 
dier, lawyer and man of letters, 
dies. Sept. 13, Charles Howard 
Williams, lawyer and journal- 
ist, dies. Sept. 28, Charles A. 
Collier, former mayor, dies. 
Sept. 29, corner stone of Car- 
negie Library laid. Oct. 7, E. 
W. Marsh, distinguished pio- 
neer, dies. Oct. 10, Southern 
Inter-State Fair opens. Oct. 
22, General Joe Wheeler and 
Captain Richmond Pearson 
Hobson guests of city. Nov. 
17, Major Joseph Van Holt 
Nash, Sr., distinguished Atlan- 
ta citizen, dies while attending 
Confederate reunion in Augus- 
ta. Nov. 16, Major George M. 
Harvey, veteran of the Mexi- 
can war, dies. 

1901 — Major Livingston Mims 
takes oath of office as Mayor. 
Jan. 19, Edgefield Brown, ven- 
erable pioneer, who resided 
here before Marthasville was 
created, dies. Feb. 16, Mrs. 
John Collier, widow of the late 
Judge John Collier and pres- 
ident of the Confederate Wom- 
an's Field Relief Association, 
who converted her home into a 
hospital during the Civil War, 
dies. Feb. 21, Markham Block 
again destroyed by fire; 17 
houses burn with loss of $500,- 
000. Feb. 28, W. T. Parkhurst, 
pioneer citizen, dies. March 1, 
Capt. Ed Cox, distinguished 
Confederate soldier, dies. March 
21, R. J. Johnson, pioneer, dies. 
April 5, Dr. Francis Marion 
Haygood, prominent Baptist 
minister, dies. June 3, Soldiers 
Home opened to veterans. July 
19. Col. B. F. Sawyer, dis- 
tinguished veteran and news- 
paper man, dies. Sept. 14, Mrs. 
Henry W. Grady, widow of the 
late journalist and orator, dies. 
Sept. 19, Atlantans pay tribute 
to memory of President Mc- 
Kinley, whose death is mourned 
by city. Sept. 30, Soldiers Home 
destroyed by fire. Oct. 9, White- 
hall Street bridge opened for 



CHRONOLOGY 



435 



traffic. Oct. 15, Major Sam- 
uel B. Spencer, pioneer citizen 
and lawyer, dies. Oct. 24, Hon. 
Porter King, lawyer and pub- 
lic spirited citizen, dies. Oct. 26, 
newspapers announce discovery 
of live alligator in "Dismal 
Swamp, alias the Union Depot." 
Nov. 6, Anderson's Lyceum 
Playhouse destroyed by fire. 
Nov. 15, Pascal J. Moran, bril- 
liant journalist, dies. 

1902.— Feb. 17, Postmaster 
"William H. Smyth dies. April 
11, Captain T. B. Neal, banker 
and business man, dies. May 
25, Eugene C. Spalding, prom- 
inent railroad man, dies. May 
29, Wu Ting Fang, Chinese 
Minister to United States, visits 
Atlanta. June 11, Walter How- 
ard, Atlanta newspaper man, 
dies in Asheville, N. C. Volney 
A. Dunning, pioneer citizen and 
councilman, dies. July 13, Dr. 
S. G. Holland, dies. July 22, 
Monument to General William 



H. T. Walker, Confederate, 
killed in the battle of Atlanta, 
is unveiled by Walker Memo- 
rial Association. Aug. 2, Alham- 
bra Hotel destroyed by fire, loss 
$20,0000. Aug. 17, Hon. William 
A. Hemphill, one of Atlanta's 
most distinguished citizens, 
dies. Sept. 28, Major Edward P. 
McKissick, prominent hotel 
man. dies. Oct. 1, Capt. Evan 
P. Howell elected Mayor of 
city. Oct. 3, William McCon- 
nell, pioneer citizen, dies. Nov. 
3, work begins on new Union 
Passenger Depot. Nov. 26, 
Stewart F. Woodson, pioneer 
business man, dies. Dec. 2, Dr. 
I.saac Taylor Tichenor, aged 
divine of Baptist church, dies. 
Dec. 4, Alfred E. Buck, Atlan- 
tan. United States Minister to 
Japan, dies. Dec. 9, fire in cen- 
tral Atlanta destroys 14 places 
of business, including Norcross 
building, with loss of $325,000. 
Dec. 23. Col. W. T. Moyers, 
distinguished lawyer, dies. 



INDEX 



Adair, Forest 222, 223 

Adair, G. W 68 

Adair, Perry 187 

Addicks, J. E 227 

Adelson, L. C 226 

Advertising Club 231 

Agnes Scott Institute 246 

Alderman, A. T 92 

Alexander, J. F 63 

Allen, Nora 233 

Amorous, M. F 175 

Andrews, J. H 229 

Andrews, J. J 118 

Andrews, Raid 118-132 

Andrews, C. L 172-175 

Anderson, C. L 175 

Architects, Institute of, . . 123 

Arkwright, P. S 175. 329 

Artesian Water 106 

Ashcraft, Lee 404. 405 

Atlanta, Battle of 42-43: 

Painting 164-167 



Atlanta, Destruction of . . . 62 

Atlanta, Kvacuation 50 

Atlanta, in 1840 143-147 

Atlanta, origin of name 20 

Atlanta, Points of Leader- 
ship 200-204 

Atlanta, Shelling of 43, 46 

Atlanta Stove Work.s ...295-296 

Atlanta. Surrender of 53 

Atlanta University 412-413 

Atkin.son. H. M 172, 329 

Atlantic Steel Co 291-294 

Atlantic Ice Co 273 

Austin Bridge Co 317 

Austin. Frank R 317 

Austin. George L 317 

Austell. A 68, 71 

Auditorium 173 

Auditorium, AVoman's Club 371 

.Automobile Club 214 

Automobile Tndu.«try ...300-301 
A very. T. W 70 



B 



Baker. W. B 274 

Baker. B. S 227 

Bailey, J. 313 

Bailey-Burruss Co 312 

Beatie, D. A 352 

Beerman, H. C 353 

Bell, M. W 263. 266 

Bergen, R. V 229 

Belden. D. A 329 

Bidwell. C. B 172 

Block, F. E 281. 284 

Blalock. F. W 231 

Block Candy Co 281 

Blair. W. H 353 

Bleckley, L. E 350 

Boehm, J. V 230 

Board of Education, first.. 350 

Bovkin. Mrs. B. M 372. 389 

Boyd. D. C 355 



Barcroft. J. K 318 

Branch. T. B 231 

Bray. W. M 114 

Brine, G. W 329 

Brown. Perino 64 

Brown. A. Ten Evck 262 

Brown. Mrs. Dowdell 223 

Brown, H. H 356 

Brown. Joseph E. 75. 83. 84. 85, 

87. 93. 350 

Brown. Elijah 355 

F.rownlee. T\^ M 173 

Bracewell. J. R 231 

Bursev. H. E 231 

Butt. C. A 231 

Bullock. R. B. ..82, 85, 86, 90 

Bulloch. J. H 229 

Brittain, M. L 246 



Calhoun. J. M. 37, 52, 68, 73, 96 

Campbell. J. L 266 

Candy Industry 279-285 

Candler. Asa G. 174, 303, 392-3 
Candler, John S 394-6 



Candler, Bi.shop Warren .393-4 

Candler, family 393-4 

Capitol, Removal of.. 22. 116, 117 

Chronology 417, 435 

Carlisle. Mrs. Willis, (Her ex- 



438 



ATLANTA 



periences) 147-151 

Carroll, A. C 231 

Calhoun, John C 7 

Cathcart 287-289 

Chamber of Commerce... .200 
Chisholm, Miss Corinne. . . 375 

Churches 215-219 

Christmas Festival 184 

Chambers, A 175 

Civilian Club 230 

Civil Engineers 231 

Clark, Edward Young 341 

Clark, John M 68 

Clearing House Association 231 

Cleveland, Grover 99 

Clouts, R. C 318 

Cabl. Howell 78 

Cohen. John S 173, 231 



Coca-Cola, origin of 302-305; 

Bottling 305 

Colquitt, Alfred H 92, 93 

Collier, Wash 356 

Cotton Mills 297-300 

Cook, J. S 355 

Conservatory of Music... 252 

Cooper Walter G 175 

Constitution, The 232 

Cone, E. H 226 

Cone, P. H 98 

Convention Bureau 207. 228 

Curb Market 368 

Coverly, C. E 175 

Cowart, R. J 74 

Crawford, Robert 112 

Crew, B. L 172 



D 



D'Alvigny, Dr 113, 114 

Daley, W. R 352 

Davis, Jefferson 96 

Davis. Mrs. R. W 223 

De Give Theatre 176-183 

Davidson, Miss L. V 263 

Dobbs, Samuel C. 303-304. 
400-404 

Dodd, Eugene 175 

Dooley, Miss Isma 389 



Dowman-Dozier Co 309 

Dozier, Graham P 309 

Douglas. Hamilton 352 

Drainage 362, 363 

DuBose, E. R 175 

Duncan, J. W 63 

Dunning, J. L 68, 70 

Dunnican, Miss Elizabeth. 230 
Dykes, W. F 352 



El 



Early Settlers 378 

Educational Institutions 234-254 

Eggleston, E. B 66, 67 

Electrical Association 231 

Electrical Engineers 231 

Emory University 234-241 

Emerson, C. L 231 

Engineers' Association .... 231 



English, J. W. ..174, 383, 387 

Erskine, J. L 70 

Eubanks, R. M 353 

Exposition Cotton Mills 298 

Expulsion of Indians 17 

Exiles Return 63, 64 

Ezzard. William 138 



Famous News "Beat" . . . 379 

Farrow, H. P 72, 86 

Federal Reserve Bank 255-266 

Federal Penitentiary 192 

Felder, Herbert 92 

Ferris Wheel, first 99 

Fillmore, visit of 97 

Financial 255-270 

First School building 354 

First Train 18 

( 

Gaines, W. W 352 

Gas Lights Introduced 111 

Gate City, origin of name.. 138 
Gainesville Alarm System.. 315 



Floyd, J. S 352 

Fleming, P. L 352 

Flipper, Bishop J. S 413 

Foote, W. 226-227 

Foreign Trade Club 228 

Ford Motor Co 301 

Fuller, W. A 128, 129, 132 

Fulton Bar& Cotton Mills.. 300 

Ft. McPherson 192 

Flynn, J. H 350 

Gammon, Elijah J 411 

Gammon Theological Semi- 
nary 410-11 

Gartrell, L. J 75 



INDEX 



439 



Gentry, W. T 175 

Georgia Ry. & Power Co... 328 

Georgian, The 231 

Georgia Products 208-213 

Georgia School of Tech- 
nology 244-246 

Girl Scouts, 374; Council .. 375 

Glenn, T. J 73 

Glenn, T. K 223, 329 

Golf Clubs 187-188 

Goodwin, T. Buford 231 

Gordon, .John B 82, 90, 91, 



Grady, Henry ...2, 16, 92, 103 

Grant, John W 172 

Grant, L. P 350 

Greenfield, J. C 221 

Greek Letter Societies 225 

Gray, James R 172, 175 

Granite 162 

Grand Opera 168 

Graves, John Temple ...172, 175 

Gregg, Robert 293 

Guthridge, Guy 227 

Guinn, R. J 352, 353 



H 



Hancock, J. T 353 

Hancock, W. A 175 

Hamilton, J. B 26 

Hammon, N. J 64 

Hanleiter, C. R....26, 94, 136 

Hanna, Merk 198 

Hanson, G. W 300 

Hanson Motor Co 300 

Harris. C. 1 230 

Harris. Joel Chandler ...193-198 

Harvey, Weston 231 

Hastings, H. G. & Co. 288-290 

Hawkins, Prank 175 

Hebert, P. 315 

Heinz, H. C 223 

Hess, Miss Kate Green... 353 

High, J. M 286 

Hill, B. H 77, 87, 92 

Hill, Joshua 83. 84 

Hillyer 383. 384. 387 

Hohenstein, C. V 229 

Holland, Rev. R. A 65 

Holland, Mrs. Frank D 375 



Holcombe, H. C 142 

Hood. Gen. J. B. 42. 44, 45. 46 

Hoke, Dr. Michael 220 

HoUingsworth, Miss Nell... 230 

Hotels, 207, Hotel Ass'n., 207 

Hope, George M 352, 356 

Hopkins, C. H 83 

Homady, G. A. .120, 121. 378 
Hornady, Dr. Henry Carr, 
64. 71. 378. 409, 419. 

Hornady, J. R 378 

Hornady, Miss Nina 389 

Houston. Sam 94 

Houser. Pred 228, 229 

Howard, W. P 64 

Howard, Mrs. M. M 254 

Howard, T. C 74 

Howard, Murray M 253 

Howell, E. P 71, 355 

Howell, Clark ...172. 175, 232 

Hurt, Joel 384. 388 

Hutchinson. C. F 352 



Ice Industry 271-279 

Industry in 1864 102 

Inman, Jane W 249 

Inman, S. M. ..248, 383, 384 
Inman, Mrs. S. M 388 



Institute of Banking 231 

International Cotton Exposi- 
tion 297 

Ivy. Hardy 8 



Jacobs. Dr. Thornwall ..307, 309 

Jacobs, Dr. Joseph 244 

Jackson, Mrs. Earle S. 184, 185 

Jenkins, Governor 82 

Johnson, A. B 12 

Johnson, H. H 231 

Johnson, H. V 78, 79. 89 

Johnston, Gen. J. E. ...36. 42 



K 



Kane, Dr. E. K 

Kelly, K. K 2 

Kennesaw Moimtain, Battle 



Jones, "Bobby" 187 

Jones. John 79 

Jones. O. H 38, 63 

Jones, Rev. Sam 197 

Jones, Sam D 174 

Journal, The 232 

Junior Chamber of Com- 
merce 227 

of 39 

Kendrick, Miss Mable 227 

Key, James L 352, 365 



440 



ATLANTA 



Kilsey, Joel 355 

King, E. P 223 

Kiser, W. H 174 

Kiwanis Club ...224, 225, 230 

Kleiber Motor Truck Co. 301 



Knights of the Ku Klux 

Klan 336 

Kohlsoat, H. H 193 

Kreigshaber, V. H 172 

Kennedy, E. D 315 



Lamar, Mrs. J. R 389 

Land Lottery 153 

Lanier, Sidney 242, 244 

Landrum, L. M 352 

Law, T. C 229 

Lee, G. W 64 

Lee, Gen. R. E 44, 66 

Liberty Loans 261 

Lindner, George Fr 252 

Lions Club 230 

Lincoln. Abraham 47, 67 

Little Theatre 183-186 



Lockhart, L. B 231 

Logan, General 45 

Logan, J. P 350 

Logan, J. L 355 

Looney, J. C 120 

Long, Stephen H 8 

Lowenstein, P. E 284 

Lowry, Robert J. 267, 383, 386, 

Lowry, W. M 267 

Lowry National Bank 267-268 
Lumpkin, Mrs. Samuel . . 389 



M 



MaeCrary, Miss Margaret.. 230 
Maddox, R. F. 174, 175, 383, 386, 

Mallett, J. P 231 

Mallen, Bernard 352 

Manning, J. W 68 

Manufacturer.s Assn., first 133 

Marble 161 

Martin, H. Warner 268 

Marion, Miss Hortense 230 

Markham, Miss Emma .... 386 

Marye, P. Thornton 231 

Marques, Don 231 

Marx, David 223 

Marthasville, name adopted 19 

Martin. E. W 175 

Maynard. T. Poole 297 

Meade, Gen. Geo. G. 77, 81, 83 

Meixell, A. C 352-353 

Mechanical Engineers 231 

Merchants and Mfg's. Assn 229 

Miller, G. L 270 

Miller, G. L. Company 269 

Miller, H. V. M 84 

Mitchell, A. W 14 

N 

Nativity Play 184, 186 

Nelson, Julia O'Keefe 350, 352, 

353. 

Newman, Wm. T. 383, 385, 386 

Newspapers, first 25 

Nevins, J. B 173 

Nichols, John M 359 

o 

Oberdorfer, Eugene 227 

Oglethorpe University 241 

O'Keefe, D. C 350 

Orr, J. K 175, 248 



Mitchell, E. M 352 

Mitchell, Samuel 100 

Mims, Mrs. Livingston 388 

Moore, W. L 175 

Moore, H. T 229 

Moses, R. J 78 

Morehouse College 406 

Morris Brown College .... 413 

Morgan, A. P 352 

Municipal Ownership 107 

Murphy, J. E 172, 175 

Murphy, J. C 352 

Murrell'9 Row 15 

Mc 

McArthur, D. S 230 

McCalley, W. L 352, 353 

McConnell, Wm 12 

McCord, H. T., Jr 229 

McCord, J. A 263, 266 

McCrary, J. A 263 

McDonald, F. H 231 

McGuire, P. J 314 

McKinley, William 198 

McLendon, N. A 143 

McPherson, General 43, 44, 45 



Nichols Construction Co. . . 359 
Norcross, Jonathan 11, 136, 139, ^/ 

142. 
Norris Candy Company . . 284 

Norwood, Thomas M 93 

Nunnally Co 284 



Ormsbee, D. W 229 

Orme, J. T 268 

Ottley, Mrs. James 389 



INDEX 



441 



Patterson, W. R 266 

Parks 188-189 

Paxon, F. J. 175, 226, 228, 

396, 397. 

Peck J. C 134 

Peel, William Lawson. . .172, 175 

Peel, William Lawson 389 

Peters, Richard 72 

Peachtree Creek, Battle of 43 
Peachtree Street, origin of 

name 377 

Pegram, R. B 335 

Penny, introduction of. . . . 307 

Penn. Rev. H. J 353 

Peters, E.C 175 

Peter.son, Z. V 353 



Pioneer School Boys ..355-356 
Pioneers, personal experiences, 

135,151 

Pike, J. B 264 

Polk, General 40 

Porter, J. T 64 

Pounds, J. G 64 

Pope, Gen. John 76, 80 

Pope, J. W 174 

Pomeroy, E. E 175 

Prater, H. S 229 

Presidents Club 225 

Proprietary Drugs 306 

Provost, F. P 315 

Public Schools 347 

Public Utilities 319,335 



Quillian, F. A. 



R 



Ragan, J. J 229 

Rawson, E. E 350 

Real Estate Board 230, 231 

Real Estate, growth in values, 

152-158 

Reynolds, F. T 230 

Retail Merchants Assn. . . 229 
Richardson, Mrs. Alonzo . . 389 

Rice, Frank P 355, 383, 388 

Rice, Grantland 231 

Rich, M 286 



Roark, W. W 64 

Rockwell, C. F 80 

Roberts, C. M 175 

Rogers, H. B 231 

Roper, W. B 266 

Rosser, L. Z 352 

Rossman, J. G 329 

Rotary Club 229 

Ruger, Gen. Thos. H. ...79, 90 

Royer, W. C 229 



Salmon, L. C 64 

Seed Industry 288 

School Census, first 115 

Scott, B. H 155 

Scott, Dr. L. D 251 

Scott, George W 246, 249 

Scott, E. F 231 

Scottish Rite Hospital 219 

Shepherd, C. E 231 

Show Case Industry 313 

. Silvey. John 68, 71 

Sims, R. A 263, 266 

Simmons, Col. Wm. Joseph 338 

Simpson, L. C 11 

Slabtown 14 

Sloan, N. D 94, 95 

Stone, A. W 70 

Stone Mountain 189 

Sterling, Miss Alexa 187 

Slattery, J. M 263, 266 

Slave Labor 24 

Slaton, W. F 352 



State, W. C 353 

Smith, Gov. J. M 91 

Smith, Victor L 172 

Smith, G. W 43 

Small, Sam 197 

Snake Nation 15 

Soft Drink Industry 301-306 

Soldiers Home 193 

Southeastern Fair 163-164 

Spalding, J. J 175 

Spelman Seminary ...407, 409 

Spiker, W. C 231 

Spring Street Viaduct . . . 357 

Stephens, Aleander H. 87, 89, 
92, 98. 

Stollenwerk, E. F 335 

Steiner, C. W 84 

Steiner, Albert 223 

Strong, C. H 64 

Sutton, Dr. W. A 352, 354 

Swimming Pools 364. 365 



442 



ATLANTA 



Taft. Possum Supper 175 

Tanlac 306 

Taylor. Creed 266 

Technical Society 231 

Telegraph, first 93 

Terminal Station 330 

Texas. The 167 

Theatres 206. 207 

Thomas, Ben 

Thompson, Edgar 355 

Thomson, TV. S 352 



Thompson, J. E 20 

Thompson, Joseph 355 

Thrasher, John 136, 137 

Thornton, IMrs. Albert 375 

Tidwell, C. R 266 

Toole, W. H 266 

Toombs, Robert 78, 79 

Troutman, H. B 352 

Trussell, C. L 353 

Troy. R. L 228 

Tutwiler. J. B 266 



u 



U. D. C. Atlanta Chapter, U. D. C. offices 
373-374. 



Van Epps, Howard, 352 

Tenable, W. R 68 

Volpi. Signer Emilo 253 



Volunteer Firemen 108. 109, 110 
Viaducts, cost, 360; date of 
erection, 361 



w 



Walker, B. F 355 

Ward, Albertson 266 

TT'ardlaw, Mrs. C. W 223 

"Wardlaw, J. C 352 

"U'ashington Seminary 249, 250 

Wellborn. M. B 263, 266 

"U'ellhouse, Henry 355 

Wessels-, R. S 172, 175 

Whatley, R. H 86 

Wheeler. General 43 

"Whitaker, J. J 64, 65, 68 

Whitney, J. G 75 

White, W. Woods 172 

"White. "V\'. "W 335 

Whitehead. J. B 305 

W^holesale Bakers' Assn... 229 

Wholesale Grocers' Assn... 229 



Wightman. Rev. W. W 65 

Wiley, James R 154 

Wilkil, K. W 231 

Willford. B. N 12 

Willkinson. Mell R. 226. 398, 399 

T^-illiams. James E 112 

Wilson, Rev. J. S 354 

Wilson. Woodrow 381-382 

Winburn. F. E 352 

A\'inship. Joseph 71 

Woodward. David 174 

Women's Club 367 

TVomen's Business Club... 230 

Wren's Nest 193 

Wright, G. W 230 

Wylie, Miss Lolie B 389 



York. Lucian 179 



